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9.2

CONTENTS

Front i spi &ce

Udatiavarga XII (translation)

Early Relations between India and the West
- Btlenno Lamotte

The Difference between HInayana and Hahayana in the last
Chapter of the Ta-chih-tu lun - Hubert Dutt

Ekottaragama (VIII) - tr. Thlch lluuea-Vi

News and Notes

Obituary: Rene de Berval

Book Reviews

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' I'.uddhist Studies Review"

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BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW

Vol.5, No, 2

I9BS

Frontispiece: the calligraphy In N8m Cold
Vietnamese) characters by Ven. Thlch HuySn-
VI reads:

"$5.A-i.put\a.l foim U not diUzuznt
j*om zmptinz&i,, zmptinzti not di^izi-
znt iiom faotm."

The seals engraved by Ven. Bhikkhu Dhammavtro,
Thailand, convey the same meaning as the cal-
ligraphy.

UDRNAVARGA

Chapter XII
HARGAVARGA - The Path

Ed: The Sanskrit original of several verses in this chapter
is largely missing and the translation is therefore Incomplete.
For the sake of interest and comparison , and since the Tibetan
is closest to the Sanskrit , we have included in italics the trans-
lation from the Tibetan by tf.w. Rockhil 1 f Udanavarga, London
1883, repr. New Delhi 1982) to fill the lacunae.

1. Whoever, with his wisdom, sees the four supreme truths,
knows the Path which destroys the thirst for existence.

2. Just as dust raised by the wind is settled by rain, so
misconceptions are settled when one sees with (the eyes
of) wisdom.

3. Wisdom is the best thing in this world, which it penetrates,
and it is due to It that the end of birth and death is
known .

4. Of all paths, the eightfold Is the best; of the truths,
the fourfold (is the best); of all dharmas the absence
of passions is the best; of all the two-footed (the best
are those) [who have] eyes (to see).

5. All phenomena are impermanent. Whoever sees this with
his wisdom is delivered from suffering; such is the path
of purity,

6. All that is perishable ends in suffering. [He who sees
this with his wisdom becomes indifferent to suffering;
Buch is the pathj of purity.

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Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

[7.] In truth all suffering Is impersonal. He who sees this
with his wisdom becomes Indifferent to suffering; such
is the path of purity.

[8.] Every empty thing... [original Biasing until next verse

given] .
[7.1 "All created things are empty"; when one has seen this
(Tib.) through knowledge, he is no more afflicted by pain,- this

is the way to perfect puritif.

[9.1 I have taught you that this way cuts off the pain of exis-
tence. The Tathagata is a teacher ; you yourselves must
stripe after (Nirvana ) .

[10.1 I have taught you that this way removes the pain of passion.
The Tathagata is a teacher/ you yourselves must strive
after (Nirvana ) .

[11.] ... the wise... from the bond of Mara [incomplete].

(11.1 There is no other road but this one that leads to perfect

enlightenment ; by concentrating your mind on it you will

cast off the bonds of Mara.

[12.] This (path is) straight; this again... it is the only

refuge and the right path... .
112,! This way is straight: it leads one to the other world;

it is the one road to the ocean of purity. Sakyamuni , well

composed and wise, expounds this again and again to the

multi tude .

[13.] You have proclaimed the way,... the only way to the elimin-
ation of rebirth; having first crossed(?) by that single
way, he causes (others) to cross... .

[13.1 Having discovered the ending of birth and death, through
kindness and compassion I wilt teach the way, the only
road. After having crossed the stream f of sin), I will
teach others to cross as I have crossed.

1*.] In order to obtain.

purity and (the means) to destroy

Udanavarga XII

101

old-age and death; for the discerning of various elements,
such is the way revealed by him who has eyes.
[14,1 The way to reach complete cessation (from existence), con-
trol, purity; the way to put an end to the recurrence of
birth and death; the means of distinguishing all the dhatus:
that is what he who has the eye (of wisdoms teaches by
this wa y .

[15.] Just as the waters of the Ganges flow towards the ocean,
so this path leads towards him who teaches wisdom for the
obtaining of the Deathless.

[16.] He who, filled with compassion for all beings, turned the
Wheel of the Doctrine, unknown before, [that man, who is
the foremost of gods and mankind, who is] always honoured,
has crossed over existence.

[17.] Use discernment over the three conceptions which are good ;
on the other hand, reject the three which are bad; then
you will drop conceptions and [doubts just as rain settles
dust which has been raised; in truth, discernment having
calmed you,,,] /you will enjoy unsurpassable Bodhil.

[18,] Fasten [your mind to the three Samadhis]; in solitude,
meditate on the three Jsic] infinite states (apramanaya ) ;
having dispelled, by means of those three, the three attach-
ments (iiaya), the wise man with a mature mind rejects
the bonds.

19. Armed with wisdom, fortified by meditation, concentrated,
delighting in absorption, mindful, he who has understood
(the cause of) birth and disappearance, attains complete
deliverance through wisdom.

20. It is he who everywhere attains glory and renown who, in
order to acquire the Deathless, meditates on the Noble
Eightfold Path, which is straight and propitious; by acting
"in this way he who desires happiness obtains happiness.

(Translated by Sara Boln-Vebb from the French of N.P. Chakravartt)

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103

EARLY RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND THE WEST*

Etienne Lamotte

In the first century of the Christian era, the history of India
was marked by the peaceful co-existence of several kingdoms of
both local and foreign origin: in the north-west, the great Indo-
Scythian empire of the Kusanas which stretched from the Caspian
Sea to VaranasI and from Kasmir to the region of Bombay; in the
Deccan, the Andhra kingdom of the Satakarnls, the Ksaharata king-
dom of Surastra and the Saka satrapy of Ujjayinl; to the extreme
south of the peninsula, the Dravidian kingdoms of the Keralas
or Cerae (Calicut and Travancore), the Fandyas (Madura region)
and the Colas (Trichinopoly and Tanjore).

Until the end of the pre-Christian era, India had lived in
Isolation and had been able to assimilate without difficulty the
hordes of foreign conquerors who had ventured across the north-
west frontier; Graeco-Bactrians , Scythians and Parthlans. She
had compelled them to bow to indigenous habits and customs and
inculcated her beliefs in them. At the beginning of the Christian
era, the situation changed radically. The development of trade
routes by land and sea brought India into daily contact with the
great neighbouring civilisations of the West and the East. The
trans-Iranian routes and the tracks of Central Asia were crossed
by merchants; Graeco-Alexandrian ships commissioned by Roman
capital regularly touched at the ports of Barbsricon, Barygaza ,
Sopara and the Malabar coast; the Chinese themselves occasional-
ly visited the settlements on the east coast. In fact, India
had not sought these contacts; it was the foreigners, attracted
by her wealth, who started the trading which was to intensify
as the centuries passed. It was no longer possible for the In-
dians to remain in an isolation caused by ignorance or disdain;
it was in their own interest to establish trade relations, welcome
the merchants from overseas and exchange raw materials and manu-
factured goods as well as ideas with them, A new opportunity
arose for India to make the voice of her thinkers and philosophers
heard and, before showing in a study to follow to what degree
fhe responded, .we would like to examine here the possibilities
i jfr i r h fi m* hi»r Hay. by niit-1 i ni ng rhg hi Bfnry of rhp relations

104

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

which were established over the centuries between East and West .

During the pre-Christian era, the peripla, military expedi-
tions and embassies in the direction of India were no more than
voyages of exploration and discovery. Under the Roman Bmpire ,
once the routes were open and curiosity satisfied, dealings be-
tween East and West were entirely dominated by trade.

I. DISCOVERIES IN THE PRE-CHRISTIAN ERA

sculax of Caryanda (519 B.C.). - Scylax of Caryanda in Carla was
ordered by Darius to reconnoitre the marine route which links
the mouths of the Indus to Egypt. Setting out from Kaspatyrus
(Kasyapapura, modern Multan near Attack), the explorer descended
the Indus as far as the Arabian Sea, ran along the coasts of Hak-
ran and southern Arabia and, entering the Gulf of Aden, went up
the Red Sea to Arslnoe in the Gulf of Suez 2 , The periplus lasted
for thirty months, and the length of Its duration Is enough to
prove that the navigator, travelling with a head wind, knew no-
thing of the ways of the monsoon.

Alexander the Great (331-324 B.C.). - Hot in pursuit of BesSUS
after his victory at Gaugamela (331 B.C.), the Macedonian conquer-
or made use during his march of the great twisting artery which
linked the Caspian Gates to the southern slopes of the Hindu Rush,
passing through Herat (Haraiva or Alexandrla-in-Aria ) , Farafc (Phra-
da or Prophthasla) , Drangiana, the southern shore of Lake Hamun,
the right bank of the River Helmand (Haetumant, Setumant, Etyman-
der, Hermandrus), Kandahar (Harahuvati or Alexandria-in-Arachosia ),
Parvan ( Alexandrla-under-the-Caucasus or in the Paropamisadae ) .
The bematists Diognetus and Baeton, who accompanied Alexander
on his expedition, surveyed the route and carefully measured the

4
distances .

The revolt in Aria had prevented Alexander from returning
to Bactria via the most direct route linking the Caspian Gates
to the Jaxartes which paBsed through Bactria (Zariaspa) and termi-
nated at Khojend ( Alexandria-Escha te) on the Syr Darya. Notwith-
standing, this route was also explored by his surveyors .

Now lord of Bactria and Sogdiana after a campaign lasting
two years (329-328 B.C.), Alexander set out to conquer Indian

Early Relations I

105

to his mind 'the region which extends eastwards from the Indus' .
He took the old highway of India connecting Bactra to Taxila ac-
ross the Hindu Rush. Setting out from Bactra at the beginning
of the year 327. in ten days he crossed the Afghan massif and,
by way of Bamiyan, reached the southern slopes where his settle-
ment, Alexandrla-under-the-Caucasus, present-day Parvan, was locat-
ed. By three or four stages, he arrived at Lampaka where he con-
centrated his troops in Nicaea, a temporary encampment to be found
between the villages of Mandrawar and Chabar-bagh. The majority
of his Macedonian forces, led by Perdiccas and Hephaestion, des-
cended the south bank of the Kophen (Kubha, today the Kabul River),
reprovisioned in Nagarahara (Jalalabad), occupied PuskaravatI
( Peucalaotis , modern Charaadda) and reached the Indus between
Udabhanda (Und) and Amb . Alexander, who had been fighting in
the upper valleys of the Kunar (Khols), Swat (Suvastu, Suastos)
and Buner, then rejoined his lieutenants; the Macedonian army,
at last regrouped, crossed the Indus by a pontoon-bridge and made
peaceably for Taxila where it was welcomed by the local king Qm-
phis (Ambhl). In Taxila began the great artery which is still
used today by the Trunk Road: pointing in the direction of the
south-east, it reached Mat hurl on the right bank of the Yamuna,
where it communicated respectively with the west coast via UJJayi-
nl and Bharukaccha and the east coast through KausarabI, Pataliputra
and Tamraliptl. Alexander, halted at the Hydaspee by the resis-
tance of King Porus (Paurava), turned directly east and, arms
In hand, crossed the great tributaries of the Indus: the Jhelum
(Vitasta, Hydaspes ) , Chenab (Asiknl, Candrabhaga, Acesines) and
Ravi (Parusnl, IravatI, Hydraotes), and finally reached the Beas
(Vipas, Vipasa, Hyphasls) where his troops mutinied. The route

taken by Alexander as far as the Beas, with indications of the

7
distances, was also noted by the professional surveyors . All

the topographical works carried out on Alexander's orders and
whose starting-point was the Caspian Gates were collected and pub-
lished, before the establishment of the Parthian domination of
Iran, In the Asiat ikoi stathmoi by a certain Amyntas, who had

followed Alexander on his expedition ,

The order to retreat waa given in November 326 and the Mace-
donian army, reinforced by a fleet of 800 to 1,000 ships, descend-
ed the Hydaspes and the Indus to the delta of Patalene, which

106

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Alexander explored for six months (January to July 325). The
return to Susiana was made by three routes,

Craterus, who had not gone as far as the delta 9 , left, in
July 325, the right bank of the Indus off Skikarpore , crossed
the Mulla Pass, Quetta and Kandahar, and skirted the south bank
of the Helmand and Lake Hamun; then, through the desert of Dasht-

i-Lut and Nazretabad, he reached Galashkird in Carmania, where

10
Alexander had preceded him

In the meantloe Alexander, at the head of some ten thousand
men, had left Patala in September 325 and set out along the Makran
coast to Gedrosia. Then turning northwards, in December 325,
he reached Galashkird In Carmania where Craterus and Nearchus
were not long in Joining him.

Nearchus, at the head of a fleet of one thousand units con-
centrated in the Indus Delta, had been ordered to delay his depar-
ture until the arrival of the monsoon from the north-east which
breaks in October: clear proof that at that time the movement
of the etesian winds was well known , However, the hostility
of the local populace forced the admiral to weigh anchor on 21
September 325. He skirted the Oreite and Makran coasts and, after
eighty days of eventful voyaging, in December of the same year.
reached the mouth of the Anarais (Hlnab), in fertile Harmosia ,
near Hormuz. Nearchus, having placed hia fleet in safety, went

inland to Galashkird and rejoined Alexander and Craterus who anxl-

ously awaited him . The reunion was an occasion for joyful fes-
tivities and a new Alexandria was founded. The fleet then sailed
up the [Persian] Gulf and the Pasitigris and reached Susiana where,
in the spring of 324, it was joined by the land army.

The Seleucids (312-64 B.C.). - After his victorious return from
Babylonia, Seleucus I Nicator (312-280) set out to reconquer the
eastern satrapies which had broken away from the Alexandrian em-
pire, and his armies again travelled the routes of Iran and Bac-
trla. The operations begun in 305 by the Diadochus [Alexander's
successor] against the Indian empire of Candragupta once again
drew Seleucus onto the ancient Indian route linking Bactra to
Taxila, and his momentum took him to the banks of the Yamuna,
possibly as far as Kathura: we know that this campaign ended

Early Relations I

107

in a compromise in the terms of which, in exchange for five hund-
red war-elephants, Seleucus ceded the possession of India and
the greater part of Afghanistan to his rival - Seleucus' inter-
est then turned to the neighbouring countries of the Caspian Sea,
the strategic and commercial importance of which did not escape
him. Deodamas , the commander of Seleucus and Antlochus, identi-
fied the course of the Jaxartes, which until then had been confus-
ed with the Don ; Patrocles, governor of the northern provinces
and a geographer of great authority, explored the Caspian Sea
but, on the basis of misinterpreted local records, was led to
claim that not only the Ochus (Tejend) but also the Oxus and Jaxar-
tes, tributaries of the Aral Sea, flowed into the Caspian, the

surface of which, according to Patrocles, equalled that of the

1 5
Black Sea . The geographer discovered, or rediscovered subse-
quent to Artobulos, the southern Indian trade route: at that
time the Oxus, which was easily navigable, served to transport
a considerable amount of merchandise from India to the Hyrcanian
[Caspian] Sea; from there it rapidly reached the coast of Armenia
(Azerbaijan), there to ascend the Cyrus (Kour), reach the opposite
side and redescend to the Black Sea . Finally, it seems that
the maritime route skirted the coast of Gedrosia and, after being
explored by S<-ylax and Nearchus, was occasionally used by the
ships of the Diadochus. Seleucus transported, from the Indus
Delta to the mouth of the Euphrates, some Indian spices for which
the Journey proved fatal

1 7

Antiochus I Soter (280-261), the son of Seleucus, himself
re-explored eastern Iran and built and fortified, under the name
of Antioch, Alexandria-in Margiana (Merv) and Alexandria-Eschate
(Khojend [now Leninabad ] ) 18 .

During the same period, the Mediterranean world was making

remarkable progress in its knowledge of India as a result of the

detailed and exact information supplied to it by its ambassadors

who had been sent by the Diadochus to the Mauryan court. Mega-

sthenes and Deimachus had both been sent as ambassadors to Patali-

putra, Megasthenes to Candragupta (313-289) and Delmachus to his

son Bindusara Amltraghata (289-264), and they have left us records

1 9
of their journeys . In fact Megasthenes, who was attached to

the person of Slbyrtlus, the satrap of Arachosia, visited Candra-

20
gupta several times and wrote the indika which for centuries

L08

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

remained the best, not to say the only source of Information on
India. His description of Pataliputra, reproduced in Arrlan's
indike 21 , is remarkably accurate, as is proved by recent excava-
tions; moreover, the precise details supplied by Hegasthenes
on the Indian nation, its manners, institutions and castes agree
with the majority of the more authoritative indications supplied
by the xautaIya-.Arthaiastra 23 , a summary of the Indian institu-
tions whose author, or one of several, "as possibly Clnakya. also
known as Visnugupta, a minister and counsellor of Candragupta.

What is more, Hegasthenes, on behalf of Seleucus, reconnoit-
red and measured in schoeni the Royal Highway or baslllke hodoa
- in Sanskrit rajavlthl - which crossed India from west to east,
linking the Hydaspes to the mouths of the Ganges. Pliny kept
the topographical record compiled by Hegasthenes and added to
it corrections supplied later by other bematiscs: "From the Hypa-
sis to the River Sydrus , 169,000 paces: from there to the River
lomanes, as much (a few copies add 5 miles); from there to the
Ganges. 112.5 Biles; from there to Rhodapha . 569 milea (others
evaluate this distance at 325 miles); from there to the town of
Calllnipaza, 167.5 miles (according to others, 165 miles); from
there to the confluence of the looanes and the Ganges, 625 miles
(a great many add 13.5 miles); from there to the town of Paliboth-
ra, 425 miles; from there to the mouth of the Ganges, 637.5
miles 24 . As far as we know, the towns of Rhodapha and Callinipaza
have yet to be identified; conversely, there is no difficulty
in recognising the Beas in the Hypasis, the Sutlej in the Sydrus,
the lamuna (Jumna) in the lomanes, Prayaga in the confluence of
the lomanes and Ganges, and Pitallputra or Patna in Pallbothra.
Already by the time of the Mauryas, a great communication artery
connected Taxlla to Tamraliptl, present-day Tamluk on the east
coast, by way of Mathura, KauSambl and Pataliputra. Ptolemy II
Philadelphus (285-247), whose reign partly coincided with that
of Asoka, was represented at the Mauryan court by an ambassador
with the name of Dionysius 25 ; as for the Indian emperor. It is
known in which circumstances and for what purpose he sent his
messengers of the Dharma to Syria. Egypt, Macedonia and Cyrenai-

26
ca

The secession of the satrapy of Bactria in 250 B.C.. shortly
followed by the revolt of Parythene in 249, was the first blow

Early Relations I

109

to Seleucld supremacy in Asia. Relations which had been maintain-
ed until then with the Indian empire became desultory: the pro-
gressive weakening of the Magadhan kingdoms under the last Mauryas
and the Sunga usurpers made them, moreover, less desirable. The
attempt begun between 247 and 246 by Seleucus II Callinlcus to
reconquer eastern Iran failed due to the coalition of the Parthian
Tiridates and the Bactrian Diodotus II 27 . The operations carried
out in Bactria, from 207 to 206. by Antlochus III the Great proved
fruitless: vanquishing the Parthian Artaban, he forced his way
across the Arius (Heri-rud) and blockaded Euthydemus of Magnesia
in his stronghold at Zariaspa (Charjui); however, after two years
of investment, the Epigonus eventually treated with his rival
and raised the siege in order to return to Syria by taking the
route through the Hindu Kush - Bactra. Blmiyan and Parvin - then
the tracks in Arachosia and Carmanla which had previously been

2 8
used by Craterus

The defeats inflicted by the Romans on Antlochus III, at
Thermopylae (191), Corycus and Hagnesia-under-Sipylos (190). tol-
led the knell for Seleucid power in Asia. The Parthian rulers
profited from this to consolidate their kingdom and enlarge it
at the expense of Syria, henceforth cut off from all contact with
India. In 13B Mithridates I defied Demetrius II Nicator and took
him prisoner; In 128 his son Phraates II killed Antlochus VII
Sidetes in combat. When Syria was annexed by Pompey to the Repub-
lican States (64 B.C.), the Arsacld Parthians continued to oppose
any extension of the new Roman province to the east; in 53 B.C.
the Suren of Orodes I bested the legions of the triumvir Crassus
at Carrhae (Harran); more than twenty thousand Roman soldiers
perished on the battlefield, ten thousand prisoners were taken
in captivity to Merv, and the head of Crassus was transported
to Artaxata and cast at the feet of King Orodes and his eon Pacor-
us during a performance of the Bacchantes by Euripides. From
51 to 38. the Parthian armies commanded by Osaces and Pacoru6
invaded Roman Syria up to three tines, finally to be repulsed
at Gindarus (Jlndaris in northern Syria) by General Ventidius
Bassus. However, when [Mark] Antony, In the year 36 B.C., pro-
ceeded to the Euphrates under the pretext of revenging the affront
meted out to the corpse of Crassus seventeen years previously,
Phraates IV, the son and successor of Orodes, inflicted a bloody

110

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

defeat on him at the battle of Phraata (Takht-i-Sulemein) in Atro-

Sarly Relations 1

111

29
patene .

The incessant wars kept up by the Parthlans at the end of
the pre-Christian era against Seleucid Syria and the Ronan Repub-
lic considerably slowed trade overland between India and the Medi-
terranean West; however, the growir.c progress of Alexandrian
navigation under the Ptolemies of Egypt maintained contact between
the two continents.

Ttie Ptolemies (323-30 B.C.). - Under the first Lagidae, Ptolemy
I Soter (323-285), Ptoleiny II Philadelphus (285-246) and Ptolemy
III Euergetes. Graeco-Egyptian ships attached to the port of Alex-
andria still went no further than to explore the Red Sea and re-
connoitre the Arabian coast as far ao Bab-al Mandeh and the shores
of the Somalia to the west of Cape Guardaful, initiating exchanges
with the Sabaean Arabs of the Yemen and the local Ethiopians.
However Euergetes, whose victory over the Seleucids briefly gave
him possession of Mesopotamia , Babylonia and Suslana, sent ships
to re-explore the [Persian] Gulf, from the Euphrates to India.
Without leaving the Gulf, however, this fleet sailed before the
wind in the direction of Al Qatar then skirted the 'Pirate Coast'
as far as Cape Kaketa . modern Ras Masandan 30 .

In the reign of Ptolemy VIII, known as Euergetes II Physcon
(145-116), coastguards on the [Persian] Gulf discovered a half-
dead stranger on a shipwrecked boat. He was taught Greek and,
when he could speak it, the shipwrecked man explained that he
had set out from India but, having gone astray and seen all his
companions perish from hunger, he had been cast onto the Egyptian
coast. He agreed, should the king Intend to Bend an expedition
to India, to act as guide, Euergetes II immediately equipped
a ship, the command of which he entrusted to a certain Euxodus,
who had come from Cyzicus to Alexandria as a theoros and spondo-
pnorus of the Chorelan games. Euxodus therefore left with rich
gifts for India from where he soon returned with a full lading
of perfumes and precious gems, which Euergetes quickly acquired
for himself. Some time later, Queen Cleopatra, the sister and
widow of the king, sent Eudoxus back to India with greater resour-
ces; while returning, the explorer was carried off by the monsoon
to the south of Cape Guardafui and stranded in Ethiopia. He col-

lected valuable information of a geographic and linguistic nature
on that country and acquired a fragment of prow engraved with
the effigy of a horse: the ship from which that piece of wreckage
came had probably belonged to navigators from the West who had
ventured too far beyond the Lixus (Oued Draa on the southern fron-
tier of Morocco). Back In Egypt, Eudoxus was once again frustrat-
ed of his gains and Ptolemy IX Lathyrus, the son of Cleopatra,
seized his cargo. Nonetheless, the explorer wanted to return
to India, this time on his own account and by circumnavigating
Africa to the west: setting out from Alexandria, he called at
Dicaerchia (Puteoll) in Italy, Hassilla (Marseilles) in Gaul and
Gades (Cadiz) In Spain; from there he sailed before the wind
out to sea, the Cape to his south. Wrecked on the coast which
he hugged too closely, he built a pentecontor out of the remains
of his ship and continued on his way until a point where he en-
countered peoples who obviously spoke the same language as the
one whose vocabulary he had recorded on his previous voyage.
He believed himself to be south of Cape Guardafui when in reality
he was in Morocco. Wishing to obtain some larger ships before
sailing on for India, he abandoned the expedition and went back.

The ventures of Eudoxus, first narrated by the geographer Posido-

3 1
nius (born c, 135 B.C.), were repeated by Strabo who criticises

them point by point and rejects the whole story as 'A tale in

the style of Antiphanes'. Nevertheless, our geographers gladly

give some credit to the peregrinations of Eudoxus while remarking

that the record does not supply any precise details on India,

the object of the voyage, and that his vague definition of it lacks

accuracy.

Under Ptolemy XII Auletus (80-51), Greek adventurers set
foot on the island of Socotra, formerly called dvipa SuKhadara
'the Happiness-bearing Island', but to which they gave the name
of Dioscorldes. Socotra, located on the route to India off Cape
Syagrus (Ras Fartak), was still too far from the departure bases

and the new colonists immediately fell under the domination of

32
the Arabs of the Hadhramaut . At the tisne of the Peripius of

the Erythraean Sea, that is about the first century of the Chris-
tian era, the island was still inhabited by Arabs, Indians and
Greeks. Thrusting their reconnoitres further along the Arabian
coast, the Graeco-Alexandr Ian navigators learned that Aclla, pre-

112

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

sent day Ras as-Hadd, situated at the eastern extreme of southern
Arabia, constituted an important emporium of the Sabaean Scenites
and that it was an embarkation-point for India 33 ; nevertheless,
the hostility of the local Inhabitants prevented foreigners from
using this port.

II. TRADE UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Relative peace in tha East. The constitution of the Roman Empire
and the policy of peace initiated in the East initiated by Augus-
tus had most favourable results on the development of large-
scale trade. The Incessant hostilities which had formerly oppos-
ed the Parthians to the Romans lessened and long periods of peace,
often continuing for several decades, cleared the way to Iran
and India for merchants and navigators. After the victory of
Actium (30 B.C.), Augustus became closer to the Parthian King
Phraates IV (37-2 B.C.) and gave him his youngest son to keep
as a hostage; in exchange, Phraates formally returned the eagles
and standards of Crassus' legions to the Romans (20 B.C.). Phra-
ates, wishing to demonstrate his confidence in Augustus, had
his four sons educated in Rome. The king of the Persians was
to die of poison through the manoeuvres of his own wife Musa ,
a slave of Italian origin, and of his son Phraates. The latter
mounted the throne in the year 2 B.C. where he remained until
9 A.C. without Rome raising any objections. When Phraates was
overthrown by a palace revolution, Augustus, at the request of
the Iranian nobility, sent to Persia the eldest son of Phraates
IV who assumed the crown in the year 9 under the name of Vonones
I (9-11 A.C.) However, the Roman education the young prince
had received displeased his compatriots who exiled him to Syria
and replaced him by a nobleman of Hyrcanian origin, Artaban 111,
who ruled from the years 11 to 43. The new sovereign was on
generally friendly terms with Augustus and Tiberius. The Roman
emperors had understood that Iran, over de-centralised and sapped
by dynastic quarrels, did not constitute any danger and there
was no point in dealing with It except defensively: Persia occu-
pied a key position on the great routes of communication and
could at will stop or favour intercontinental trade. Prom the
military point of view, imperial objectives were strictly limited

Early Relatione I

113

to the maintenance of the Roman protectorate over Armenia and
the occupation of the strongholds In Mesopotamia.

Under Tiberius (14-37), Germanicus , who was named as comman-
dant of the eastern province, established a client-state of Rome
in Armenia (17), without provoking any reaction from the Persians.
However, in 36 Vitellus, the governor of Syria, found It desirable
to depose Artaban III and replace him on the throne of Seleuceia
with a rival, Tiridates III. The event ended in the triumph
of Artaban, who returned victoriously to the capital, and Seleu-
ceia was lost to the Hellenic cause.

Under Nero (54-68), the Parthian King Vologeses I (51-78)
won Armenia from the Romans and installed his brother Tiridates
there. Vanquished by General Domitius Corbulo , he nevertheless
obtained an honourable peace In the terms of which his brother
would continue to govern Armenia but receive his crown from the
hands of Nero. The ceremony took place in the year 66 at Rome,
to which the emperor proceeded with great pomp. He was planning,
in agreement with the Parthians, to make an expedition to the
Caucasus and the heart of Asia when death put an end to his pro-
ject.

Some fifty years later, Trajan (97-117), wanting to seize
Armenia from the hands of Osroes or Khosrau (107-130), disembark-
ed at Antioch and, in the course of two campaigns (115-116),
took Ctesiphon and conquered the major part of the Parthian em-
pire. However, while he was exploring the 'Erythraean Sea',
near the [Persian] Gulf, the country rebelled. Once the revolt
was quelled Trajan, having returned to Ctesiphon, placed the
diadem on the head of Parthamaspates , the son of Osroes. Illness
prevented him from consolidating his conquests and he died in
August 117 on the way home, at Sellnus in Clcilia. However,
in 123 his successor Hadrian (117-138) concluded peace with Per-
sia and the boundary of the Roman Empire was, once again, extend-
ed to the Euphrates, Hostilities recommenced when Vologeses
ill (148-191) set his brother Pacorue on the throne of Armenia.
Emperor Lucius Verue , co-regent of Marcus Aurelius, led the war
for four years (162-165) with great success: vanquisher at Euro-
pos, he razed the palace of Ctesiphon and burnt Seleuceia, It
would have been worse for the Persian kingdoms had it not been

1 1

114

Buddhist Studies Review 5. 2 (1988)

for a plague which decimated the Roman legions and forced them
to retreat before they could spread throughout the empire. Again
in 197, Septimus Severus (193-211) lurched against Vologeses

IV (191-208) who threatened the stronghold of Nisibis in Mesopo-
tamia; Babylonia was conquered and Ctesiphon laid vaBte. The
Persians were not long in recovering: the last Arsacid, Artaban

V (213-227), despite the intrigues of his rival Vologeses, was
able to inflict crushing defeats (217-218) on the emperor Hacri-
nus and impose heavy war tributes on him. Finally, in 226, the
Parthian empire of the Arsacids collapsed under the attack of
the Persian Ardashlr who inaugurated the Sassanld dynasty In
Iran. The new kingdom was to endure until 651 and present a
more formidable threat to the decadent Roman Empire than the
Parthlans.

Miction of the Arab danger. - Frott che beglnnlngs of the RoMB
Empire, the caravan towns located on the border of Parthian and
Roman power, such as Damascus, Palmyra, Petra , etc., enjoyed
a period of increased prosperity. However, the safety of commer-
cial trade was threatened by the Hlmyarite and Sabaean Arabs
who ransomed the caravans and controlled navigation on the coasts
of the Hejaz, Aslr, Yemen, Hadhramaut and Oman. Augustus resol-
ved to make them see reason. A Roman expedition organised with
the concurrence of the Egyptians, Jews and Nabataean Arabs from
Petra was entrusted to Aelius Callus. Setting out from Cleopat-
rls in the Gulf of Suez in the year 25 B.C., it crossed the Red
Sea, disembarked at El Haura, pushed across the Nejd and Asir
as far as the frontiers of the Yemen and Hadhramaut. Aelius
Gallus, launched In pursuit of an elusive enemy, wandered in
the desert for more than six months and ended by reimbarking
at Acre_ in order to regain the west shore of the Red Sea at Myos
Hormos . In about the year 1. Isodorus of Charax, commissioned
by Augustus and with the authorisation of the Parthians, explored
both shores of the [Persian] Gulf, and this reconnaissance proba-
bly led to a raid on Arabia Felix [the Yemen] as well as the
sack of Aden 'by Caej

..35

Freed from the threat made on their expeditions by the pilla-
ging Arabs, the Graeco-Alexandrian merchants, financed by Roman
money, intensified trade between the West and the East, a trade

Early Relations I

115

which was hardly Interrupted by the hostilities which broke out
at regular intervals between Rome and Ctesiphon. Goods were
transported by land and sea, and the length of the regular routes
was accurately reconnoitred and described in numerous works plac-
ed at the disposal of travellers, such as for example the Geogra-
phies of Strabo, the stathmoi Parthlkoi by Isodorus of Charax,
the Periplus of the Inner Sea by Menlppus of Pergamum, the Peri-
plus of the Erythraean Sea by an anonymous pilot, etc.

The Silk Road, - Internal trade was carried out along the Silk
Road , reconnoitred In the first century by agents of the Graeco-
Syrlan Haes Titianus. The Information they collected was publish-
ed in about the year 100 A.C. by the geographer Marinus of Tyre
and reproduced a century later in the Geographia of Claudius
Ptolemaeus (128-170 A.C.) 37 . The Silk Road, linking the 30'
and 105° meridians, started at Antioch, the capital of Roman
Asia, and ended in Lo-yang, the capital of China; the route was
divided into two parts of basically equal length: the western
section, from the Euphrates crossing to the Stone Tower, and
the eastern section from the Stone Tower to China.

Starting at Antioch on the Orontes, the Silk Road crossed
the Euphrates at Heirapolis (Menbij) and entered the Parthian
kingdom. From there it crossed Ecbatana (Hamadan), Rhagae (Rayy,
near modern Tehran), the Caspian Gates, Hecatompylos (Charhud)
and Antioch in Harglana (Herv). Then, entering the Kusana king-
dom, it intersected the important communication junction of Bac-
tra (Skt. Bahll), the capital of Bactria ( Skt , Tukharaethana )

and, continuing eastward, reached, at the foot of the Komedai

mountains, the Stone Tower (Gk, Llthlnos Pyrgos , Skt. Kabhanda),
present-day Tas Kurgan in the Pamirs. It was there that the
Levantine merchants exchanged their goods for bales of silk from
China.

On its eastern section, which was particularly frequented by
Serindian and Chinese caravans, the Silk Road reached Kasgar
(Skt, Khasa) where it subdivided into two tracks which ran re-
spectively through the south and north parts of Chinese Turkestan.

The southern route, the oldest to be used, crossed Yarkand
(Arghan), Khotan (Kustana), Nlya and Hlran, eventually to reach
the Serindian kingdom of Lou-Ian, later Shan-shan, in the region

116

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

of Lop-Nor

The northern track, skirting the Tarim Basin to the north
passed through U<! Turf an (Hecyuka). Akau ( Bharuka ) , K uca (Kllcl)
Karagar (Agni), TurfSn, Haml. the Jade Gate and finally Tunhuang]
where it rejoined the southern route 39 .

The Silk Road then entered China proper, continuing through
Chiu-ch'aan, Chang-yeh. Ch'ang-an (present-day Sian or X ian )
and ended at the Han capital Lo-yang (modern Luo-yang).

At Bactra the Silk Road was intersected perpendicularly by
another artery linking the capital of Turkestan with Sogdiana
to the north and India to the south.

Leaving Bactra, the route to Sogdiana crossed the Oxus (Vak-
«>, passed through the Iron Gates and reached Samarkand (Mara-
canda), the capital of Sogdiana (S01I). Describing a huge arc
circling Ferghln a . it crossed the Jaxartes, passed through Tas-
*ent and. traversing the Land of . Thousand Stream, reached
the town of Aksu through the T'len-shan massif 40 .

The old Indian highway 41 which also began in Bactra ran south
to the high peaks of the Hindu Rush and. through the passes of
Kara-Kotal (2,840 m.), Dandan Shlkan (2,690 ..), Ak Robit (3 215
■ ->. Shibar (2.985 m.,. as veil as the valleys of Ghorband and
Kabul, arrived at the Indus which it crossed in order to reach
Taxila. The main halti ng -.pl aces otl che B.ctr.-T.xlL section
which was some 700 k. long, were: Bamiyan (Persian Balkan)
Kapisi (Begram), H„„. Mr . (Jalalabad), PuskaravatI (Charsadda)
Udabhanda (Und on the Indus) and. finally .' Taksasila-* 2 The
ancient highway diverged considerably from the modern Trunk Road
which, starting in Wasar-e-Sharif or Khanabad . passes through
Bamiyan (or Salang). Kabul. Peshawar and Attock. ending at Rawal-
pindi. In Taksasila. the Indian highway curved south, reaching
Hathurf on the right bank of the Vaauna, a tributary of the Gan-
ges. Mathura communicated with the west coast via UjjayinI and
Bharukaccha, and with the east coast through KauSambr. Pitaliput-
" and Tamral iPtI. A transverse track linked Ujjaylnt, the chief
town of Avanti, with KauSambI, the Vatsa capital.

To the east of the old Bactra-Taxila artery, the obligatory
route for any expedition of importance, began the mountainous
tracks which connected India more closely with Kasgaria and Kho-

Early Relations I

117

tan. We will describe only three of them here

43.

1. The Chitral trail mounting the course of the Kunar and
communicating with Chinese Turkestan through the Baroghil Pass
and the Wakhjir Pass.

2. The Gilgit route across the great Himalaya and Karakorum
mountains {6,000 km. as the crow flies). Starting out from Srln-
agar in Kasmlr, it traversed Bandlpur, the Rajingsn Pass (3,590
m.). Gurez , the Burail Pass (4,188m.). Godhai, Astor , Bunji. Gil-
git, Misgar, the Kilik Pass (4,750 a.), Hintaka. Tas Kurgan (3,210

m.), the Ullong Pabst Pass (4,230 m.), finally ending in Kasgar
44

(1,300 m. ) .

3. The route via Leh, also beginning in Srinagar and linking
the capital of Kasmlr with the southern Tarim Basin. Crossing
Leh in Little Tibet, it traversed the high passes of the Ladakh
Range, the Karakorum and Kun-lun mountains, rejoining Chinese
Turkestan between Karkand and Khotan. Since it reached altitudes
of 6,000 m. . it was only practicable in summer.

The Silk Road and the secondary tracks did not serve exclu-
sively for the transport of merchandise but were used also,
as were the maritime routes at the same time, by the Chinese
and Indian ambassadors to reach their diplomatic posts. In 138
B.C., the Han emperor Wu-ti sent his envoy Chang Ch'ien to the
Greater Yueh-chih of Sogdiana and Bactria in order to conclude
an alliance with them against the Hsiung-nu . In 97 A.C., the
Chinese general Pan Ch'ao, who had just pacified Serindia. sent
his lieutenant Kan Ying to open relations with the Arsacid Parth-
ians and the Roman Empire of Nerva; however, overawed by the
length of the route, he only partly accomplished his mission
and turned back in Parthia without going as far as Ta-ch'in
The Indians and Scythians, of whom we know only the name, spontan-
eously sent anbasssadors to Augustus to seek his friendship and
that of the Roman people. One of these ambassadors sent by Pan-
dion or Porus presented the emperor with rich gifts, and an Indian
sophist who was included, Zarmanochegas or Zarmanus of Bargosa

(Bharukaccha ) , repeating the spectacle presented earlier by Cala-

47
nua to Alexander, burnt himself in Athens in 21 B.C. . In the

reign of Claudius, between 41 and 54, a freedman having been

carried by the monsoon to Taprobane, the king of Ceylon sent

118

Buddhist Studies Review 5. 2 (1988)

to Claudius In return an embassv l»n k„

who supplied Pliny wlth , T ? * C * Tt * la Rachl " (**!**?)
PPiied Pim y wlth lnf „ Mtlon on island 48 ,

the year 99 an embassy f r ™ *„. „< * „ island . In

... ,n„ hl . brllll „ t vlctory ov . c chi ; e ir t::"„ r ;r:r

senators, the Indian „„ e acea wlth Che

. Liie inaian envoys witness»ri t-h. r

" the end of the rei g „ of Hadria ( 17-138) Th" 1 " trlU " Ph '
Bacttians - undoubtedly the Kusa'na 8S ° f the

- sent m. i ■ " sovere l«"s of the (Jorth-Weat

--...- rr * „<, :r.r. ™ :r:;;;:

Dandamis, an envoy sent on „ k Syrla ' Wlth

envoy sent on an embassy t0 the emperor Elagabulus 51 .

(To be concluded }

* This article was ori e inal ly pubUshed under

relations entre 1 ' t„j ,. Les Pteaieres

entre 1 Itlde „ 1 . 0ccMea£ . ln ^

Melanges Albert Carnoy DD Bl no t , CI 953),

grateful appreciation to the Council of th. B aa^,
London, for generous financial aid. ^ S ° Clety "

W. Since this essay „ as flrst publlshed

I-I-. onea . have changgdt ^ * *' h ' *«• ««. Particular!,

uouid add — « - —• -* -r. ™ rr^r™ i as this

up around many of ene tool _ a 8St liter ature has grown

j me copies discussed by Lamotrp k.., .
insertion of all the r-W. , P " preclud « the

311 tne relevant additions Co the Mhn ,.

following two UH , warranf bibliography. However, the

items warrant mention by virtue of ,h.<r <
themes featured in the authnr- ■ incorporating major

tn cne author's own work:

Jean W. Sedlar India and the Greek WorId

Cultnre, Tot owa . New Jersey ,980, * fr -"« 1 " 1 - "

Irene H. Franck and David M «,„„.,.. „

,986. B^vnstone The Sii * Road . A Hlst(Jry< ^ ^

See also, of course, the updated biblioaraohv i „ * ,

— . translate from tte F J^ *» d ^ r^r"" " ^

— Crlentallate de Louvain 36. UuvIln-lalulZ. Catl ° nS * ^

(Notes follow)

Early Relations I

NOTES

119

The most valuable information is provided by the Greek and Roman geographers
and naturalists. Main sources are the Geographies of Strabo (65 B.C.-ZO A.C.),
tfaturalis tfistoria, XXXVII libri , by Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.C.), De Charogta-
phia, III libri, by Pomponius Mela (post 44 A.C.). Periplus of tile ffj-ythraeaji
Sea by an unknown author of disputed date (end of the first century?), Geogxa-
phia of Ptoleny (c . 100- 179 A.C.), Wisteria Banana of Dio Cassius (post 229
A.C.) etc.

Among the long lists of surveys, noteworthy are H.G. Rawlinson, Intercourse
between India and the Western World... to the Fall of Rone, 2nd ed.. Cambridge
1926; E.H. Warmington, Commerce between tne Konan Bnpire a/id India , Cambridge
192B; H. Gary and E. Warmington, rfte Ancient Explorers, Cambridge 1929; and,
more recently, J. Pllliozat, 'Les echanges de l'Inde et de 1'Enplre remain
aux premiers siecles de l'ere chr^tlenne*. Revue tiistorlque, Jan-Mar 1949,
pp. 1-29.

Herodotus, IV 44; cf. Ill, 102.

For details of the itinerary followed by Alexander in Asia see W.W, Tarn,
Alexander the Great, 2 vol., Cambridge 1948.

Strabo, XI, 8, 9; XV, 2, 8; Pliny, VI, 61.

Strabo, XI, 8, 9; Pliny, VI, 45,

Arrian, indike, II . 1 : Ti Si d*a T0 «r -ft** x B i { &.. Taffro ^.o, lore, 1, r«B, 7„S&» n .

Strabo, XV, 1. 26-28; XV, 2, 8; Pliny, VI, 62.

Strabo, XV, 2,8,; XV, 1,11; Athenaeus, XI, 102, 500 d; XII, 39, 529 e;
II. 74, 67 a: X, 59, 442 b; XII, 9, 514 f; Aelianus, De Nstura Animalium,
XVII, 17: V, 14.

Arrian, Anabasis, VI, 15, 7.

Arrian, Anabasis, VI, 3; Strabo, XV, 2, 11.

120

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Arrian. Indite, XXI. 1.

Arrian, Anabasis, VI, 28; Indite, XXXIII, 1-4? XXXV, 2-8; XXXVI, 3.

Strabo, XV, 2, 9; Pliny, VI, 49; Appian, Suriaca, 55; Justin, XV, 4; Plu-
tarch, Vita Alexandri, 62; Atheneaus, I, 18 d.

Pliny, VI, 49.

Strabo, XI, 7. 1; XI, 11. 5.

Strabo, XI, 7, 3,

Pliny, XVI, 135.

Strabo, XI, 10, 2; Pliny. VI, 47,

Strahn, Ti t i p o.

Arrian, Anabasis, V, ft, 2.

Arrian, Indite, X, 2 £f ; cf. L.A. Waddell, Discovert) of the Exact Site of
Pataliputra, Calcutta 1892; Arch.Surv. Sep. , 1912-13, 1926-27; B.C. Law, The
Hagadhas of Ancient India, London 1946, pp. 38-41.

Indite, VII-XI.

Tfte Xautalya Artfcasastra , ed. Ganapati Sastri, 3 vol., Trivandrum 1921-
25. For a comparison with the Indite, cf. 0. Stein, Megasthenes and Kautilya,
Vienna, 1921; S. Konow, Kautalya Studies, Oslo 1945.

2i>

Pliny, VI, 63.

Pliny, VI, 58,

Thirteenth Rock Edict: cf , J. Bloch, Les Inscriptions d'Asote, Paris 1950,
p.130.

Justin, XLI, 4, 1-5.

Polybius, X, 29 ff, 49 ff; XI, 34; Justin, XLI, 5, 7.

Early Relations I

121

29 For historical details, see C. Huart and I, Delaporte. I. 'Iran Antique,
Paris, 1943, pp.322 ££; R. Ghirshman, I'lran des Origines a L'lslam, Paris
1951, pp.917 ff, 220 ff.

Pliny, IX, 6; cf. XII, 76.

Strabo, II, 3, 4-5.
32 Pliny, VI, 153; Peripius, 30; Cosmas Indicopleustes. Ill, 169 b.

Pliny, VI, 151

Strabo, XVI, 4. 22-23; XVII. I, 54; Pliny, VI. 160-2; Mo Cassius, LIII,

29; Virgil, Aeneid, VIII, 705.

35 Isodorus of Charax, LXXX ff; Periplus, 26.

On the Silk. Road, see A. Hermann, Die alten Seidenstrasse zwischen China
und surien, Quellen and Farscn. 2. alten Gesch. u. Geogr. , Berlin 1910, 'Die
Seidenstrassen von China nach den romischen Reich*. Mitt. Geog. Ges . , Vienna
1915, p. 472; 'Die alten chinesischen Karten von Zentralasien und Westasien',
in Festscfirift fur Fr. WirtJi, Berlin 1920, p. 185; Bas Land der Seide und Tibet
im Licnt der Antite, I, Leipzig 1938; H. Lfiders, Steitere Beiirage zur Ce-
schichte und Geographic vol Ostturkistan, Sitt. Pr. Akad . d. Wiss., Berlin
1930, p. 17; P- Pelliot, La Haute Asie . and, as an appendix, 'Explorations
et Voyages dans la Haute Asle'. Paris 1931; R, Grousset, etc., L'Asie Orieatale
des Origines au xve siecle, Paris 1949, p. 198; I, 'Empire des steppes, Paris 19-
39, p. 78.

Ptolemy, Geographia, I, 11, 5-7, 12.

The southern track was especially reconnoitred between 1900 and 1915 by
Sir Aurel Stein, who gave an account of his work in the book by Sir John Gum-
ming, Revealing India's Past, London 1939. p. 152,

39 The northern route was the object of several academic expeditions, among
which should be mentioned the French Pelliot-Vaillant mission (1906-8), the
German expeditions to TurfSn (1902-14), the geographical survey by Sven Hedin

122

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

C1927-9) and the Citroen mission (1931). Among other publications, see E.
Ualdschmldt, CandhSra, Kutscha, Tar fan, Leipzig 1925.

This was the route followed from east to west by Hauan-tsang at the begin-
ning of the seventh century A.C.; cf. I. Waiters, On yuan Cht/ong's Travels
in China, London 1904s R. Grousset, Sut les traces du Souddfra, Paris 1929.

See a geographical, archaeological and historical survey of this important

route for civilisation by A. Foucher, La Vleille Route de 1'Inde de Bactres

a Taxila, 2 vol., Paris 1942-7, in which the eminent author gives full details

of the results of his long labours and the many excavations carried out by

the French archaeological delegation in Afghanistan.

On this important town, the capital of western Punjab, see Sir John Mar-
shall, Tajfiia, 3 vol., Cambridge 1951,

Cf. J. Hackin, 'L'Art Indian et l'art iranlen en Asie Centrale", in J/is-

tolre Universe lie des Arts ed. L. Reau , IV: Arts JVusuIraans -Extreme Orient, Par-
is 1939, p. 256.

The track was taken in 1931 by the India Group of the third Citroen mis-
sion; cf. G. Le Fevre, La Crolsiere jaune, Paris 1932, map and altimetrlc
cross-section, pp.l6Z and 181.

E. Chavannes, Che kd, I, p.lxjci: the chronology is debatable.

E. Chavannes, 'Heou-Han chou', r'oung Pao, 1907, pp.159 and 217,

Strabo, XV, 1, 4; XV, 1 , 73; Dio Cassius, LIV, 9; Suetonius, ii'ita Aug-usti ,
21; Horace, Carmen saeculare, 55 ff; Odes, I, 1 2. 56! IV, 14, 41-43.

Pliny, VI, 84-S5.

Scriptores Aistoriae Augusfcae, Aelil Spartiani, Hadrlanus, I, 21, 14.

Aurelius Victor, Bpitmte, XV, 4; Appian, Praet., 7.

Porphyry, Ilcgl djrojijc ifiyrUxotr, IV, 17, citing Bardesanes.

12 3

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HlNAYANA AND MAHSyBNA

IN THE LAST CHAPTER, 'PARlNDANR' , OF THE TA-CHIH-TU LUN

(MAHRPRAJNAPRRAMITOPADESA)*

Hubert Durt

The present paper is related to several projects which are now
under way on the Trait* de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse , the magnum
opus of Etienne Lamotte (1903-83). The first volume was published
in 1944 and the last, the fifth, in 1980. As is well known,
Prof. Lamotte translated from Kumarajlva's Chinese version called
Ta-chih-tun lun (Taisho, XXV, 1509). the first part of the Maha-
prajnaparamita-upadesa or -slstra , a huge commentary, attributed
to Migirjum on the Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom in 25.000
slokas (Pancavimsati-sahasrikl-prajnaparamltasutra). After Ku-
mirajiva, who seems to have enriched with added explanations
the original Upadesa or ■Exegetical Treatise', Lamotte himself,
added to his translation comprehensive introductions and detailed
annotations. It has often been said that such a work needed
an index: this index is presently being compiled in Japan and
will be based on Lamotte 's Sanskrit reconstruction of words.
An English translation of Lamotte 's French version of the Ta-
chih-tu lun is also in preparation.

The presentation of the Ta-chih-tu lun as a commentary

the Pancavimsati may be somewhat misleading. In an important
review of the Traite, Paul Oemievilie 2 pointed out that the 500
pages of the second volume of Lamotte' s work commented on only
fourteen lines of the Pancavimsati in the edition of the Sanskrit
text by Kalinaksha Dutt 3 . It was. as Prof. Demieville said,
■ u n record d'exegese'. In fact, the disproportion between the
Pancavimsati's text and commentary is not so extreme in the second
part of "the Ta-chih-tu lun, which consists of eighty-nine chapters
which, with the exception of the twentieth chapter , have not
yet been translated into any European language.

The incomplete edition of a recast version of the opening
chapter of the Pancavimsati by N. Dutt corresponds to the first
twenty-six chapters of' the Ta-chih-tu lun. Its continuation,

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Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Chapters 2 and 3 edited by Takayasu Kimura, corresponds to Chap-
ters 27 - 43 of the Ta-chih-tu lun. The first part of this edi-
tion {corresponding to Chapters 27 - 38 of the Ta-chih-tu lun)
had already been published in five issues of the Taisho Daigaku
Kenkyii Kiyo between 1971 and 1978. Even if we do not yet have
access to a printed edition of the last part of the Sutra, there
are many similarities between the long versions of the Frajnapara-
mitasutras, the PaRcavimsati and the Astasahasrika, especially
as regards the chapter studied here. Therefore, it is quite
possible to make an approximate Sanskrit reconstruction of the
part of the PaRcavimsati which is commented upon in the last
chapter of the Ta-chih-tu lun ( T 1509 c 753c28 - 756c8).

The huge compendium constituted by the Ta-chih-tu lun, also
called Ta lun, 'Great Treatise', has been utilized by Chinese,
Korean and Japanese Buddhists from an early age more as an 'Ency-
clopaedia of Mahayana Buddhism', to borrow the words of Ryukan
Kimura , than as a commentary upon the most commonly used of
the Prajfiaparamitasutras: the PaRcavimsati, generally known in
the Chinese tradition as the 'Large Division" (Ta p'ln). At
an early date, but probably after its translation by Kumarajlva
in the first years of the fifth century A.C., the Ta-chih-tu
lun was divided into several chapters , among which two bear
the name of cftu-Iei, 'entrusting", which corresponds to the Sans-
krit parlndana, 'bestowal'. These are Chapters 66 and 90, and
the latter concludes the Ta-chih-tu lun.

Chapter 66 is the Bestowal on Ananda of what seems to be

an addition made in several Prajnapararaitasutras : the Aksobhya-

parivarta. This 'Chapter of Akiobhya ' , which in some cases is

a
immediately added to an earlier Bestowal text , seems to Prof.

10
Hikata to reflect faith in AkSobhya Tathagata at one of the

early stages of evolution of Kahayana Buddhism. The two chapters
relating to the entrusting of the Praj fiaparamitasutra to Ananda
have very few points in common. Their commentaries in the Ta-
chih-tu lun are also completely different. It is obvious that
the second Bestowal (chu-Iei) chapter, if only by its position
as the last chapter of the huge Ta-chih-tu lun, had to be shaped
as a kind of conclusion to the Treatise. Both of the Bestowal
chapters, as is the case with other chapters in this exegetical
treatise, take the form of a series of questions and answers.

Maha- and Hlnayana in the Ta-chih-tu lun

125

There are ten questions in Chapter 66 and fourteen in Chapter
90, which will be studied here.

Before describing the contents of the commentarlal part of
Chapter 90, I shall summarize the section on bestowal in the
Parlndani Chapter of the PaRcavimsati. I will follow the Chinese
version of the Sutra (T 223 xxxvii 423c21-424al3) translated
by Kumarajlva. which is identical to its quotation in the Ta-
chih-tu lun (T 1509 c 753c29-754al9) . Of the other Chinese trans-
lations of the Paficavimsati, the account of the bestowal is very
similar in Moksala ' s version (T 221 xx 146c9-28), but is absent
from the translations by DharBaraksa (T 222) and by HsClan -tsang
(T 220). The account translated by Kumarajlva is also close
to the Sanskrit text of the Astasahasrika-Pra jRiparamitisutra .

The bestowal account starts with a question by the Buddha
to Ananda Intending to reassess their respective qualifications
as Master or Teacher and as Disciple. Thereafter, the Buddha,
while making the threefold proclamation of bestowal, gives final
recommendations on the duties of a disciple: serve the Buddha
and, after his decease, serve the Frajnaparamita without losing
anything of its content and without cutting off the transmission
to followers. People honouring the Praj na par ami ta will obtain
the triple advantage of seeing the Buddha, listening to his Doc-
trine and being among his familiars. The chapter ends by expres-
sing the Joy of those who received that preaching: Bodhlsattvas
led by Maltreya, disciples among whom are listed first Subhuti,
Sariputra, Maudgalyayana and, after other names, Ananda. and
finally heavenly beings.

These few sentences at the very end of an important sutra
seen too modest. We should keep in mind that the bestowal of
a Mahayana sutra is mostly a way of legitimizing the text of
the sutra and is thus a postscript. We can say that the true
conclusion of the Pancavimiati and of the Astasahasrika has to
be located in the chapter preceding the Parlndana. In those
chapters, we recognize a model episode inspired by the famous
meeting between the youth Sumedha and the Buddha DIpamkara ,
but events take a more dramatic turn. We witness the Bodhlsattva
Sadapraruplta's twofold sacrifice 13 of his own body to honour
his teacher, the Bodhlsattva Dharmodgata. The sacrifice of a

126

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Bodhisattva 's own body is a culminating episode of several Haha-
yana sutras: the Saddharmapundarlka (Chap. 22: Bhaisajyaraja ) ,
the Suvarnaprabhasa (Chap. 19: Vyaghrl), the Samadhiraja (Chap. 23:
Ksemadatta) and the Karunapundarlka (Chap. 5 on the Gift) .
Here these two dramatic scenes had to give emphasis to an ulti-
mate exposition of the main tenet of the Prajnaparamita teaching,
Its theory of emptiness.

*******

More interesting than the short Parlndana account of the Pancavim-
sati is the Ta-chih-tu lun's commentary upon It. We might expect
in the last chapter of the Treatise a definitive explanation
of what Is the most recurrent theme of the work: the bhutakoti ,
i.e. that the true character of things is their absence of charac-
ter . However, even if, as we shall see, many doctrinal points
explained previously appear incidentally in the final chapter,
we can say that the Ta-chih-tu lun ends with a new presentation
of the difference between HInayana and Mahayana.

We already know the point of view held on that question by
the NIgarjunian author of the Treatise, It has been made clear
in that part of the work which has been translated and commented

upon by Lamotte, and also through the comprehensive study made

I 6

on the Mahaprajnaparamitasastra by Venkata Ramanan . Neverthe-
less, the last chapter of the Ta-chih-tu lun has the merit of
giving us a manifold and contrasted presentation of the two posi-
tions. Following its habit, there is a sequence of fourteen
questions somewhat dialec tically arranged. As the subject is
important, I shall summarize in succession these questions and
their answers. A first series (1-6) concerns only the act of
entrusting the Sutra; a second series, itself divided into two
groups (7-10 and 11-13), closely follows the text of the short
Parlndana of the Pancavimsati . The fourteenth and last question,
the most extensively treated, constitutes a re-examination of
the canonical tradition.

The first question deals with a general problem: does not
the bestowal of a sfftra constitute a case of craving? The answer
is that, although the Buddha has cut off any attachment to dhar-
maa, on the one hand, until his Parlnirvana he did not abandon
his great benevolence and compassion towards living beings and,

Maha- and HInayana in the Ta-chih-tu lun

127

on the other hand, he is still somewhat unsure about the prepared-
ness of Ananda .

With the second question we enter the main subject: why bestow
the Prajnaparamita on a Sravaka, a listener, like Ananda and
not on a Bodhisattva such as Maitreya? For a justification of
the choice of Ananda. the author of the Treatise reverts to a
few points of what was considered the objective history of early
Buddhism. Ananda is presented as the upaszhayaka, the attendant
of the Buddha, endowed with the capacity to memorize (dhiranl )
his teachings and able to diffuse them widely. He is called
here the 'Third Master', apparently after the Buddha himself
and Sariputra, whose premature death, mentioned here, seems to
be 01.3 of those historical facts which can be discerned in the
Buddhist tradition among a magma of legendary accretions. On
the other hand, Maitreya and the other Bodhisattvas dispersed
after the Parlnirvana as they decided to return to their original
realms, the Tusita heaven in the case of Maitreya. Here again,
it seems that there is an allusion to a possible historical reali-
ty: the disarray -of the Community after the loss of its leader.
The entrusting to a well-informed Bodhisattva would not have
been a cause' of sorrow, but the transmission had to be made,
with anguish, to an adept of the Lesser Vehicle.

The following third and fourth questions again deal with the
contradiction of the bestowal of a Mahayana sutra on a Sravaka:
for the Lotus and other Vaipulya sutras, there was a bestowal
17

on a King of Joy and other Bodhisattvas.

The answer shows

us a beginning of the 'classification' of sutras. an exercise
which was to become so popular in later Chinese Buddhism .
There were cases of the predication of a Hahaya"na sCtra without
any Arhat present. In the case of the Avatamsaka, the five hund-
red Arhats were unable to listen. In other Instances, they could
listen but could not make use of what had been preached. Is
the predication of the Prajnaparamita to a Sravaka a testimony
that the doctrine of Prajna' is inferior? On the contrary, the
Prajfiaparamita has no secret teaching in comparison with the
Lotus and other sutras which, taught to a Sravaka, will cause
him to enter immediately Into Buddhahood instead of taking the
way of the Bodhisattva 19 . The teaching of a Mahayana sutra has
to be used as cautiously as does a poison with curative powers

128

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

by an able physician. To conclude, what we should note is that
the Prajnaparamitasutras have two levels of understanding: a
general level and a level accessible only to the Bodhisattvas
at the tenth bhumi (stage). The general character of the Frajna-
paramita is unique, but one's understanding of it can be either
deep or shallow.

The fifth question returns us to a point already mentioned:
as there is a Parlndana of the Aksobhyaparivarta , why are there
two 'Bestowals' i„ the same text? The author of the Tresis*
summarizes the teaching of the doctrine concerning the identity
between the Perfection of Wisdom <pr<,jhSpar*mit*) and Sinfulness
in Means ( U pIya* auS aJ ya ) 20 . In conclusion, as the Buddha knew
of the evils which would follow his decease, he could not be
blamed for making a Parlndana for every chapter of his predica-
tion instead of only the two Parlndanas criticised here.

The sixth question i s the last on the bestowal and the dis-
quiet which surrounds it. The author makes use of a comparison
already used in the Parlndana" of the Aksobhyaparivarta 21 : the
anguish of a rich merchant entrusting his treasures to his ignor-
ant eon. In the light of another important doctrine of the Praj-
nlpiramlta: the Middle Way 22 and the rejection of the two ex-
tremes, i.e. eternalism (Hiwt.rfd,) and nihilism (.^.i,*,)
the author of the Treatise makes a philosophical refutation of
the concern mentioned above about the craving implicit la. an
act of bestowal. When he preaches Emptiness, the Buddha destroys
the extreme of eternalism, but risks being blamed for falling
into the extreme of nihilism. By making, with much zeal, a be-
stowal, the Buddha neutralises this false presumption.

The second series of questions is directed towards the last sen-
tences of the Pancavlmiati which have heen summarized above.
After the doctrinal tenets which have been referred to in the
first six questions, we descend to a more mundane level with
questions 7-10, it is a common feature in the Treatise that
its author, as a good teacher, alternates technical developments
and diverting stories. Here, it is the personality of Ananda
which is featured. The seventh question concludes that to be

Maha- and HInayana in the Ta-chih-tu lun

129

a disciple of the Buddha is not a guarantee of holiness. There

are also examples of 'evil' disciples who have already been con-

demned in the first part of the Treatise . Ananda himself was

a disciple of heretics but was saved by his quality of being
a cousin of the Buddha. There will be an allusion in the eighth
question to the well-known tradition that Ananda was able to
'eliminate the impurities" only after the Parlnlrvana of the Bud-
dha. This point does not matter here as the predication of the
Pra jnaparamlta is presented as taking place during the lifetime
of the Buddha. We read here general prescriptions on the good
behaviour of a disciple, recommending 'attentiveness towards
the Master' and exhibiting the monastic met iculousness that La-
motte found so typical of the spirit of the author of the Trea-
tise

The eighth question deals with the relationship between the
Master and the Master of the Master, i.e. the Pra jnaparamlta .
This is also a well-known theme in the Treatise which makes it
clear that the Prajna was radiant through the body of the Buddha
during his lifetime. Now, the splendour and depth of the Prajna-
paramlta, formless and colourless, can be appreciated only by
the Wise. It is thus not presumptuous of the Buddha to Indicate
to the still impure Ananda that he should respect the Prajria
as he had respected the Buddha himself. Moreover, as the Buddha
will no longer be there to overcome Mara, he charges Ananda with
the protection of the Prajna.

On the threefold proclamation of the bestowal, the ninth
and tenth questions somewhat evade the issue: why reiterate as
much as three times the formula of entrusting the Sutra? And,
if it is so important, why not reiterate it more than three times?
These questions lead to a recapitulation of a few old topics
of predication: the old myth of Vajrapani exterminating the recal-
citrant with his club ; the supreme shame of the mundane person

consisting in the interruption of his own posterity; the cliche

of the lamp which lights a multitude of lamps in succession

The last two points illustrate the sacrosanct duty not to let
the transmission of the Teaching be interrupted. The threefold
proclamation, a common procedure of any official ceremony in
the Community, is here indirectly referred to the Three Vehicles.

130

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

The three questions 11-13 are again of a more scholastic na-
ture. In the eleventh guestion, it is asked how to reconcile
the interdiction to interrupt a doctrine's transmission with the
doctrine Itself which is Emptiness, without augmentation or dimin-
ution and totally ' nirvanlsed ' . Here follows the last teaching
of the Treatise on the 'conditioned' (samskrta) and on the "dis-
tinction' (vifcaipa). The author of the Treatise displays an at-
titude more prone to conciliation than to polemics in explaining
how the Prajnaparamita, who is the 'Teacher' and 'Mother of the
Buddha', can be assimilated into the canonical 'Jewel of the Dhar-
ma ' : the advantages, culminating in Nirvana, given by the Prajna-
paramita are the same as those of the Triple Jewel.

The twelfth guestion asks about the necessity for the listener
and worshipper of the Prajnaparamita to adapt his 'practice' to
his reception of the Prajna. The author of the Treatise links
the obligation of good practice to rejection of the Lesser Vehicle
and to adherence to the Great Vehicle and its altruistic activity.
He explains thereafter the difference in merits produced by these
two types of activity.

The thirteenth guestion queries the level of Joy reached by
Arhats and the more advanced members of the Assembly at the end
of the predication of the Prajnaparamita. The author of the Trea-
tise again shows an ironical spirit: when the Prajnaparamita is
preached, everybody attains the joy which is within their grasp,

*******

It seems to me meaningful that the fourteenth and last guestion
leads to the recapitulation of the First Council which followed
the Parinirvana of the Buddha. At the extreme end of one of the
most elaborate commentaries of Mahayanlst literature, we are con-
fronted by fragments of an account whose earliest versions belong
to the Vinaya literature. Later, this account was reproduced
in the Introductions, or Nldanas, of numerous HInayanist works,
among them the famous Commentaries on the Pali Tipitaka: the Su-
mangalavilasinl , the Samantapasadika and, with a complete rear-
rangement, the Atthasalinl. One value of these Nldanas is to
testify to the orthodoxy of the text which will follow.

In the Treatise, the question is clearly expressed: if the

Haha- and HInayana in the Ta-chih-tu lun

131

Prajnaplramitasutra has been bestowed on Ananda , why was it not
rehearsed at the First Council when Ananda was specifically in
charge of the recitation of the sutras? The answer will also
be expressed in a few words in the very last line of the huge
Treatise, but it is preceded by a manifold examination which makes
this last topic the most extensively treated in the last chapter
of the Ta-chih-tu lun. There is first an examination of the ob-
stacles We have been told about the inability of the Sravakas
to understand the Mahayina when it was preached by the Buddha.
How much more difficult would It become for them after his demise!
Besides that, the HInayanist Trlpitaka consists of 30,000 U<*«.
in contrast to the Mahayinist texts which are unlimited. A«ong
the Mahayanist texts, the 'Great Pra Jnaparamitl ' division contains
100 000 sio.as. the 'Medium Pra jnapiramiti • division 22.000 sloKas
and the texts kept by the Naga kings, Asuras and other devas con-
tain thousands of hundreds of millions of sio*as. Moreover, these
non-human beings have no longer a span of life or better power
of memorisation than the Bhiksus who are not even able to remember

the 'Smaller Prajnaparamita'' division

In order to stress the length of the Vaipulya sQtras , the
author of the Treatise lists a few of them: well-known are the
Saddharmapundarlka. the Gandavyuha (designated as Acintyavimoksa-
sutra 27 ). the Dasabhumlka under the denomination, current in the
Treatise, of Dharmamegha sutra . This title makes it one of the
three 'Megha sutras' 28 grouped together in the list.of sutras
appearing here and there In the Treatise. Some of the other tit-
les are unknown, but all are compared to treasures lying at the
bottom of the Ocean. Not all those sutras can be Included In
the Hfnaya-nist Tripitaka.as large things cannot he Introduced
Lnt o small things, according to a clich* frequently used in the

29
Ta-chih-tu lun

The aforementioned obstacles did not discourage Mafijusrl

and Maitreya from inviting Ananda to recite the Mahayana sutras

after having recited the Sutrapltaka at the First Council. Thus

i8 demonstrated the strong will of the author of the Treatise

t0 legitimise the Mahayanist tradition! Fond of maritime similes.

he argues that If the Dharma has only one taste of liberation

<„imu*ti) like the uniquely salty taste of the Ocean, there must

132

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

be two kinds of liberation: the personal liberation which charac-
terizes the Lesser Vehicle and the liberation of all living beings
which is the object of the Great Vehicle 30 . This opposition
between svakartfia and parSnha is probably the main distinction
between Hlnayana and Hahayana expounded in several passages of
the Ta-chlh-tu lun 31 .

32
Thereafter , the author Insists on the point that tripitaka

is a word of late origin. At the time of the Buddha, people

knew only of the terms sutra, vinaya and mitrka. Sutra is a

common term for the texts belonging to the four Agatnas . for the

Hahayana sutras, which have to be called the 'Great Sutras' (ta

hsiu-to-lo), and also the 250 rules of the Prat lmoksa 33 .

Regarding the Vinaya, the short description given here is
probably one of the most glossed passages of the Ta-chih-tu
lun. After having explained that the short predication of the
Vinaya is in eighty sections, the author of the Treatise makes
a distinction between the Vinaya of Hathura in eighty sections
and the Vinaya of Kashmir, which is is ten sections but which
is commented upon by a Vibhasa in eighty sections. E. Frauwall-
ner chose to identify the Vinaya of Hathura, which includes
Avadana and Jataka, with the Vinaya of the Mulasarvastivadins.
As for the Vinaya of Kashmir, without Avadana and Jataka, he
supported its identification, already proposed by J. Przyiuski 35 ,
with the Vinaya of the Sarvastivadins. Lamotte agreed with this
second identification but considered the VibhasI commenting on
the Vinaya of Kashmir as being precisely the Vinaya of the Mula-
sarvastivldins . It seems indeed that the author of the Ta-
chih-tu lun, although he quotes as 'Vinaya' only the Vinaya of
the Sarvastivadins, made extensive use of the narrative documen-
tation which would later become known as the Vinaya of the Mala-

3 7
sarvastivadins . In his time, did that documentation of unspeci-
fied origin come from a Vinaya-vibhasa? Much research has now
been made on when and where the form of the huge Sanskrit Vinaya

— 1ft

of the Mulasarvastivadins was fixed . Its discovery among the
Gilglt Hanuscripts and its edition through the efforts of N.

.39

,40

Dutf", G. Tuccl"* u , T. Venkatacharya and R. Gnoli 41 count among
the great achievements of Buddhist studies in the last fifty
years ,

Mahl- and Hlnayana in the Ta-chih-tu lun

133

Between this controversisl Information on the Vinaya and
a valuable colophon which has been studied by Demifeville , the
Ta-chlh-tu lun ends abruptly with a short sentence which summar-
zes the answer to the fourteenth question, mentioned above: 'Yes,
the Mahaprajfiaparamita and analogous texts are part of the Sutras
(hsiu-to-lo-ching), but since as sutras. they were large and the
matter they treated was different, they could not take their
place in the compilation of the Tripitaka."

The final sentence of the Ta-chih-tu lun is meaningful as
it shows once again the crucial difference between the Hlnayana,
heir of a prestigious tradition, the Tripitaka, and the innova-
tive and superabundant Mahayana. It illustrates a dilemma which
runs like a leit-motiv through the Treatise: its author was 'cor-
nered' as. on the one hand, he followed his critical and systema-
tic sense, which makes the Treatise a mascerwork of exegesis,
and on the other hand he had to refer constantly to what could
be called in modern language a double standard. He wishes to
establish the authenticity and legitimacy 43 of the Pra jnipSramita
texts on which he has specifically built his exegesis. Of course,
he could rely on- the Mahayana and Madhyamika concepts of uplya-
AausaJya and of the twofold truth, i.e. paramirtha and samvrti,
but one can still be amazed by his ingenuity when he resorts
constantly to concepts like the two levels of understanding (four-
th question) and the two levels of enjoying (thirteenth question)
the predication of the Pra jnapSramita . and the twofold vimoxti
(fourteenth question); or when he proposes an interpretation
of the bestowal as a refutation of an accusation of nihilistic
tendencies. We may thus consider the last chapter of the Ta-
chlh-tu lun as an epitome of the tensions latent in what has
been called by the Far Eastern tradition the 'Great Treatise'.
We may also add that the similarities between the Introduction
(Traits, Vol.1) and the last chapter of the Treatise show that
it is the work of only one author.

* Presented at the 7th Conference of the International Association of Bud-
dhist Studies, Bologna, July 1985,

NOTES

Tome I, Bibllotheque du Muaeon, Vol.18, Louvain 1944 - reprint: Publications

134

Buddhi.se Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

de l'lnstltut Orientaliste de Louvaln (P. I, O.L.I. Vol.25, Louvain-la-neuve
1981. Tome II, B. du Mus. , Vol.18, Louvaln 1949 - reprint: P.I.O.L., Vol. 26,
Louvain-la-neuve 1981. Tome III, P.I.O.L., Vol.2, Louvaln 1970. Tone IV,
P.I.Q.L., Vol.12. Louvaln 1976. Tome V, P.I.O.L., Vol.24, Louvain-la-neuve
1980. Tone VI: Addenda & Corrigenda, Index Is in preparation.

See, for a bibliographical survey of Lamotte's publications until 1971:
Notice sur Mgr E. Lamotte, Professeur a 1'Universite' de Louvain, Louvaln
{privately published) 1972, 44pp.; until 1977: 'L'oeuvre de Mgr Etlenne Lamot-
te' in Indianisme et Bouddhisme, Melanges offerts a Mgr Lamotte, P.I.O.L.,
Vol, 23, Louvain-la-neuve 1980, pp.vii-xvi; until 1984: H, Bechert, 'In memor-
lan Etlenne Lamotte (1903-1983)', Nwien XXXII, 1, 1985, pp. 120-9. H. Burt,
'Etlenne Lamotte, 1903-1983', Bulletin de VEcole francaise d ■ Extreme-orient
LXXIV, 1985, pp. 1-28. A selection of 'Scrlpta Minora' will be published in
the collection of the Melanges Chinois et Bouddhigues, Brussels.

Review of Traits II In Journal Asiatics , 1950, pp. 375-95 - reprinted in

Choix d 'etudes bouddhioues. Leiden 1973; pp. 470-90. An English translation

by A. Saroop of this important review will be published as an appendix to the

English version of the Tralte by Sara Boln-Webb.

Calcutta Oriental Series, No. 28, 1934, 269pp.

Translated in Lamotte, Traite V, pp. 2373-2445.

See E. Conse. The PrajnapSramita Literature, 2nd ed., Reiyukai, Tokyo 1978,
pp. 36-9.

T.D.K.K. No.56, 1971, pp. 164-129; No. 57, 1972, pp. 524-503; No. 58, 1973,
pp. 270-238; No. 61, 1975, pp. 668-655; No. 64, 1978, pp. 440-418. The complete
edition of Chapters 2 and 3 has been edited under the title 'Pancavimsatisaha-
srikS PrajSBpSramita II- III, edited by Takayasu Kimura. Sankibo Busshorln.
Tokyo 1986. '

A Historical Study of the terras Htnayana and MahSySna and the Origin of
MahaySna Buddhism, 1st ed., University of Calcutta 1927 - repr. Indological
Book Corporation, Patna 1978, p. 161.

Demi e vi lie, art. cit. , pp. 391-4.

See E. Conze, 'The Composition of the AstasShasrikS PraifiSpSramltSsQtra' ,

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies XIV, 1952, pp. 258-9 -

Haha- and Hln-yin* In the Ta-chlh-tu lun

L35

repr. in Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies. London 1967, pp. 168-84.

1° Suvitrzntavixraml-partprc**- Prajnapsra.itasutra. Fukuoka 1958, pp.xxxii-

™iv. Seealso-KDantlnne. U splendent de 1 > inehranahle ( A^hya^na ,

I, P.1.0.L-. Vol. 29, Louvain-la-neuve 1983. pp. 41-4.

U EQ . R . „,„,, Blbli otheca Indica. No.110, Calcutta 1888, pp.528-9: ed.

„ Ho.ih.r- (with Haribhadra's Commentary). 1st .d., Toy* Bunko. Tokyo 1932-

5 '-repr. SaukibS. Tokyo 1973, pp. 990. 9-991 .8; Engl, transl. by B. Con.e,

Bibl. Ind., No. 284, Calcutta 1958, pp. 224-5.

See rraite 1. pp. 228-9; Dantinne, op. cit., PP. 148 9.

Asta.. Mitra. pp.498.1-3, 523.1-2; Wogihara. pp.947.B-U: 983.2.-24.

Isshi Vamada. Karunapundatika , Edited with Introduction and Notes, School
of Oriental and African Studies. Vol.!. London 1968, pp.104-17. See a so
pantinne, op, cit . . PP.137-9; 3. Gernet , 'Las suicides par le '-£-£
Bouddhistes chinois du Ve au Xe sales'. Melan.es publies par 1 Xn
des Kautes Studes Chi„olses II. Biblioth*,ue de l'lnstltut das Haute, Etudes
Chlnolses XIV. Paris 1960, pp.5Z7-5B; 3. Fillio«t. '1. -« volontalre par
le feu et la tradition bouddhique indienne' , J.A. 1963, pp. 21-51.

» See rraite III, p.rfiil V. pp.2181-2201 ; 2231-33; 0. Seyfort Ruegg. The
Literature of the Xadhyamata Schc.1 of Philosophy in India. Wiesbaden 1981. pp.
32-3.

Wag3rj una's Philosophy as Presented In the Maha-PraWP*ra m U*-i*stra,

Rutland - Tokyo 1966. pp. 278-90 - repr. Delhi 1987.

Keisho Ts U ka„oto, 'Daichidoron to Hokkeky*' [The treatise on the Perfection
of wisdom and the Lotus Sutra I. in Vukio Sakamoto, ed.. «c*,ek y0 no Chugotv-
reki tenkai [The Lotus Sutra and Chinese Buddhism], Helrakujl. Tokyo 197*.
p.633, does not explain who is this NandarSJa. The reference 714a should
be corrected to 754b.

' m a sutra typical of the Great Vehicle, the Kahayana aahaparinirvanasDtra
(which has no Parlndana chapter), the Buddha insists when speaking to_hW.Ju.rt.
i„ the last chapter, on his wish to entrust his Nirvanasutra to Ananda (T
XII 375 xxxiii 8501.7-8). On Ananda. see Dantinne. op. cit., pp. 122-3.

See Liu King-wood. 'The P'an Chtao system of the Hua-yen School in Chinese
Buddhism. T'ou n9 Fao LXVII. 1-2. 1981, p. 11. n.3. See also L. Hurvits, Chlh-i.

136

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques XII, 1962, p. 231.

19 .

See E, Lamotte, Note bibliographique; Le Tralte de la Grande Vertu de

Sagesse de WSgatJuna, Tome 111', Bulletin de la Classe des Lettres et des
Sciences Morales de 1 'Academic regale de Belgique, 56, 1970, p. 542, and the
quotations referred to by R. Kimura, op. cit., p. 165, on the 'death of a Bodhi-
sattva' or the hell to be preferred to the Sravaka- and Pratyekabuddhayanas
as it keeps open the career of the Bodhisattva.

See M. Pye, Skilful Means, A Concept in Mahayana Buddhism, London 1978, pp.

102-17.

T 1509 Ixxix 6l9b25-cl,

See K. Mimaki, J. Hay in Hobogirin V, Paris - Tokyo 1979, s.v, Chads,
p. 463.

Sunaksecra, already briefly mentioned in Traite III, p. 1545, as well as

Susima, indirectly referred to in Traite III, p. 1483, and mentioned in the
Parlndana of the Aksobhyaparivarta, T 1509 ixxix 620b27-28, are somewhat un-
known figures presented here as 'nominal disciples'.

See B. Lamotte, Vajrapanl en Inde , Melanges de Sinologie o/ferts a Paul

Demieville, Bibliotheque de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Chi noises XX, Paris

1966, p. 116 sq.

See E. Lamotte, The Teaching of Vimalakirti, Bngl . transl. by Sara Boin,

Sacred Books of the Buddhists XXXII, London '1976, p. 105. Strangely enough,
there is no special comment here on the interdiction to lose even one word
of the Prajfiaparamita . The quotation on that topic in Traite I, p. 233 (T
1509 Hi 84bl9-20 does not refer to the final Parlndana Chapter, but to the
Parlndana of the Aksobhyaparivarta (T 1509 lxxix 616c22-26, comm. 619cl-22):
to lose all the twelve ahgas of the SQtrapitaka is a minor offence in compari-
son to losing one word of the Pra jnaparamita.

Hikata, op. cit., p.lvili, points out that it Is the first classification
of the NahaprajftSparamitSsatras in the Treatise. ' Medium ' seems to allude
to the Pailcavimsati , which has 25,000 and not 22,000 slates; 'Snail' could
refer to the Astasahasrika .

See Hikata, op. cit., pp.lvill-lix.

See Hikata, op, cit,, pp . lviit-lix.

Traite III, pp .xxxvl-xxxvli ,

The

Haha- and Hlnaypna In the Ta-chih-tu lun

137

three 'Megha sOtras' mentioned together in the Ta-chih-tu lun (T 1509 xxxiii
308a6 - Traite V, p. 2301. and xlvi 394bl5) seem to refer to the Dasabhumlka,
the Hahameghasutra and the Ratnaraeghasutra.

See Venkata Ramanan, op. cit., p. 2 78 and n.4.

The distinction used here is completely different from the twofold vimukti
(cieoriankti, prajnavimukti ) of the Abhidhannakosa . See L. de La Vallee Pous-
sin, L'AMudharmakosa de Vasufcandhu IV, (reprint) Melanges Chinois et Bouddhi-
ques XVI, 1971, pp. 296-8.

This passage is referred 'to as a conclusion of the survey on the Ta-chih-
tu-lun by R. Kittura. o P . cit., p. 164. See also P. DemievUle in ffonSgirin
III, Paris 1937, s.v. Butsu, p. 191.

J 2

From here, the concluding sentences of the Ta-chih-tu-lun have been trans-
lated by J. Przyiuski in La legend* de 1 'empereur Asoka, Annales du Kusee Gui-
met, Bibliotheque d' Etudes 31. Paris 1923, pp. 214-15.

On the classification of parts of the Vlnaya as ' Sutras', see Traite V,
p,2287, n.3.

The Earliest Vinaua and the Beginnings of Buddhist Literature, Serie Orien-
tal Roma VIII, IsHEO, 1956, p. 26 sq.

35 'Fables in the Vinaya-Pltaka of the SarvSstivadin School', Indian His-
torical fluarterly V, 1. Calcutta 1929, pp. 2-4.

E. Lamotte, Histoire du Bouddhisme indien, B. du ttus. 43, Louvain 1958,
pp. 192-7 [Engl, transl. by Sara Boin-Weob, History of Indian Buddhism, P.l.O.L.
Vol.36, Louvain-la-neuve 19B8, pp. 174-9],

Tralte I, pp. 104-5 <n,2); III, pp.xvl-xvlii

Regarding the difference between the traditions of the Vlnayas of the
Sarvastlvadins and of the HulasarvSstivSdins, see Shiauka Sasaki . 'Komponsetsu
issaiubu ritsu ni mirareru Butsuden no kenkyQ' [The Biography of Buddha In
the Vinaya of the Molasarvsstivadins] , Seinan Ajia KenkyU, Ko.24. Kyoto 1985,
pp.25-7-. and 'Kahasatra : A group of HDlasarvastivadasOtra as listed in the
IDan dkar ma Catalogue* , flukkuO KenkyD, Hamamatsu 1985.

Ciig-it Manuscripts III, 4 volumes, Srinagar 1942-50. New edition by S.
Bagchi, Buddhist Sanskrit Texta Ho. 16, 2 vols., Darbhanga 1967, 1970.

138 Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

40 „

Translations of fragments of the Vinaya of the MalasarvHstivSdlns in II

trcno di diamante. Bar! 1967.

Co-editorship of The digit Manuscript of the Sanghabhedavastu , 2 vols,,

Rome 1977-8; R. Gnoll, ed., The digit Manuscript of the Sayanasanavastu and

the Adhikaranavastu , Rone 1978 (Publications of the Department of Archaeology

of Pakistan and of the Istituto Italiano per 11 Medio ed Estremo Orlente),

The colophon has been preserved in T 2145 x 75b. Demieville, art. cit . ,

p. 383, n.4. See also Traite III, pp.xlv-xlvi.

See £. Lamotte, 'Les sources scrlptualres lie l'Upades'a et leurs valeurs

respectives' , Cahiers d 'Extreme-Asie 2, Kyoto 1986, pp. 1-15,

Hubert Durt
Edit or- in-chief, 'Hoboqirin'
Ecole franfais d ' Extreme-Orient , Kyoto

139

EKOTTARnGftMA (VIII)

craduit de la version chinoise par

Thich Huy€n-Vi

Fascicule cinqul^me
Partie 11

Sans attendre

1. 'Ainsi ai-je entendu. Larsque le Bouddha , le Bienheureux,
residait dans le pare d* Anathaplndada a Sravastl. il disait a
sea bhiksu: Vous devez detruire votre desir et je vous donnerai
1'attesta'tion d'atteindre le stade d ' Anigamin. Quel est ce
desir? C'est la luxure. Le Bouddha recitait ensuite cette gathl":

En se cramponant a la luxure

Les humains tombent dans le mauvais chemin.

S'lls pouvaient eliminer cette passion

Le stade d'Anagamin seralt leur realisation.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les hhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.

2. 'Ainsi ai-je entendu... le Bienheureux disait a ses hhiksu;
Bhiksu, vous atteignez aussi ce stade si vous pouvlez detruire
la colere. En effet:

En se laissant entrainer par la colere
Les humains tombent dans le mauvais chemin.
S'ils pouvaient eteindre le feu de la colere
lis accederaient au stade d'Anagamin.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique,
3. 'Ainsi al-je entendu... le Bienheureux disait a ses bhiksu;
Bhiksu, vous atteignez aussi ce stade d'AnagSmin, si vous pouviez
ellminer 1'ignorance. En effet:

En se laissant entrainer par 1'ignorance

Les humains tombent dans le mauvais chemin.

Pour l'eliminer, s'ils avalent la perseverance

lis realiseraient le stade d'Anagamin.

140

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.

4. 'Alnsl ai-je entendu... le Bienheureux disait a ses bhiksu:
Bhiksu. vous atteignez aussi ce stade d ' Anagamln , si vous pouviez
enlever 1'avarice de votre coeur. Paree que:

En ayant toujours d' avarice

Les huaains tombent dans le mauvals chemin.

S'ils s ' acharnaient a la supprimer

lis parviendraient au stade d 'Anagamln .

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.

5. 'Ainsi ai-je entendu.,. le Bienheureux disait a ses bhiksu:
Bhiksu, conrae vous au debut, je n'arrivals pas A dominer un fait
que j'ai subl au cours du temps et lequel ne m'apportait que
souff ranee: c'est la pensee [ illusoire ] . C'est pourquoi vous
devez 1 ' ident ifier , l'analyser pour distinguer l'origine du bon
et du bien. PrStez done bien attention a ce point precis.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.

6. 'Ainsi ai-je entendu... le Bienheureux disait a ses bhiksu:
Bhiksu, comme vous au debut, je n'apercevais pas le moyen de
convaincre facilenent la pensee [illusoire] et d'obtenir de bonnes
recompenses. Reflechlssez bien sur ce point pour discerner les
bonnes causes qui vous donneront de bans effets.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.

7. 'Ainsi ai-je entendu... le Bienheureux disait a ses bhiksu:
S il y avait quelqu'un parmi vous qui commencait a reflechir
puis repandait ses paroles aberrantes, je le saurais immediate-
ment. A d'autres occasions, par la meditation, Je pourrai savoir
aussi s'il faisalt part de ses id6es a d'autres personnes.

Bhiksu, la cupidite est une passion tres difficile a abandon-

ner. Elle peut vous mener par la suite vers les trois mauvais

2
chemins et vous ne parviendrez jamais au niveau de 1 ' Incondition-

ne (asamskrta). C'est pourquoi ceiui d'entre vous qui a cette

passion, doit s'en debarrasser immediatement . Celui qui n'en

Ekottaragama VIII

141

a pas encore ne doit pas la laieser nattre. Faites-en tres at-
tention.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.
8 'Ainsi ai-je entendu... le Bienheureux dis'ait I ses bhiksu:
Bhiksu. s'll y -ait quelqu'un parmi vous qui avait l" intention
de se suiclder ou qui ne voulait plus tester dans la conrn-unaut*
et repandait ses paroles aberrantes, je le saurais
k d'autres moments, par la meditation., je pourrais me rendre

i a* i a naissance de ses desirs. de sa cupidite, de
compte aussi de la naissance

la propagation de son esprit capricieux.

I'ortUM pas que la convoitise est un sentiment tre. diffi-
cile a vous debarrasser. Elle vous entrainera vers les trois
mauvais chemins et vous empichera de parvenir au niveau de 1 In-
conditionn., Celui d'entre vous qui a cette manie dolt 1 abandon-
„er immedlatement . Celui qui n'en a pas encore ne la laisse
pas naltre. Examinez bien cette question.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu talent
heureux et les mettaient respectueusement en pratique.
9 'Ainsi ai-je entendu. Une fois le Tathagata residait A Raja-
grha dans le jardin be bamboo Kalanda [k.nlv.p. ] avec ses 500
disciples. II leur demandait ceci: Bhiksu. qui entre vous pense
oue Devadatta 3 est innocent ou bien qu'il a commis des fautes
t^ilebil- a expier durant plusiers kalpa? Selon notre Dnarma ,
je n'ai pas vu la moindre bonne action aussie petite qu,un grain
de sable, au nom de Devadatta. A cause de cela. aujourd hui
je vais vous relater l'origine de ses fautes et pourquoi elles
BO nt irreparable*. Prenez 1'exemple d'un homme t o»b* d.n. un
fosse d'excrement. Tout son corps en est i^pregn,. Quelqu un
a voulu le sauver. le ramener vers un endroit salubre. Mais
en 1'examinant Men, II s'est aper.u que 1'accldente est tr*s

. -„i = Tl lui dit alors: J'aurais alme vous
sale, completement sale. 11 iul alt

titer de 14. Hals 11 a'est impossible de le faire. Ainsi dit.
11 s'en va.

II en est de mSme pour Devadatta que pour les autres ignor-
ant* qui ne prennent pas conscience du bien. Us seront plonges
dans le mal durant des kalpa sans pouvoir s'en sortir. Pourquoi?

142

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

C'est parce que Devadatta est ignorant. II est ebloui par le
profit. U a commis [quelques-unes] des cinq graves fautes*.
A sa mort. il renaltra dans l'un des trois mauvais chemlns.
II en est ainsi, bhiksu : Les grands profits n'apportent pas le
bonheur a 1'horame. Celui d'entre vous qui souhaite en avoir
la jouissance. doit abandonner cette idee. Celui qui n'en a
pas encore ne la laisse pas nattre.

Ayant entendu ces conseils du Tathagata, les bhiksu etaient
heureux at les raettaient respec tueusement en pratique,

10. Ainsi al-je entendu... le Tathagata residait... avec ses
500 disciples. Un des bhiksu ayant entendu le Tathagata confir-
mer la condamnation sans appel d'un kalpa d' expiation pour Deva-
datta se dirigeait vers Ananda et s'asseyait a ses cdtes. II
demandait a Ananda: Pourquoi le Tathagata evoque-t-il d'abord
les fautes de Devadatta avant d'annoncer sa condamnation a un
kalpa d 'expiation? II faut avoir un motif pour le condamner.
- Ananda repondait: Le Bouddha ne commet jamais d'erreur. Les
acres accomplls par son corps et sa bouche sont les ratines. Le
Bouddha annonce tres justenient la condamnation de Devadatta a
un kalpa d'expiation de ses graves fautes. - Ananda se dirigeait
vers le Bouddha, se pxosternait devant lui, se redressait et
lui disait: Blenheureux, il y a un bhiksu qui se pose la ques-
tion suivante: Pourquoi le Tathagata evoque-t-il d'abord les
fautes de Devadatta avant d'annoncer sa condamnation a un kalpa
d'expiation? Y-a-t'il un motif pour cette condamnation? - Le
Bouddha repondait: Ce bhiksu est nouvellement admis dans notre
communaute. Tout ce que le Tathagata dit est vrai . Pourquoi
en doute-t-il? - Le Bouddha demanda a Ananda de lui amener ce
bhiksu pour lui donner des explications. Ananda s*en allait
executer l'ordre. Le bhiksu rectifiait l'ordre de son habit
puis accompagnait Ananda Jusqu'a la place du Bouddha. se proster-
nait et prenait place a ses c6tes. Le Bouddha lui disait alors
ceci: Pourquoi Stes-vous si obtus pour douter ainsi la parole
du Bouddha? Ce que le TathSgata dit est toujours vrai. Vous
voulez chercher quelques def alliances de ses mots. - le bhiksu
repondait: Le bhiksu Devadatta a du prestige et de l'autorite.
Pourquoi le condamnez-vous a un kalps d'expiation de ses fautes?
- Le Bouddha repondait: Bhiksu, faltes attention a vos paroles
"sinon vous supporterez des souff ranees interminables . - Le Bouddha

Ekottaragana VIII

143

recitalt la gatha suivante:

La connalssance mondaine n'apporte pas la liberation
finale ni 1 'extinction des passions, par contre elle
peut envoyer l'individu en enfer.
Si j 'avals vu chez Devadatta le moindre signe de bonte je
n'aurais jamais annonce sa condamnation a un kalpa d'expiation.
Quant au motif, le void: Devadatta est ignorant, cuplde, et
a commis [quelques-unes 1 des cinq graves fautes. A sa mort il
sera echu en enfer. Pourquoi? Parce que la cupidite detruit
les germes du bien chez 1'homme et 1'empiche de parvenir au Nir-
vana. C'est pourquoi. bhiksu. ne la laisse pas nattre.

Le bhiksu qui avait pose la question se levait . reetifiait
ses habits puis se prosternait devant le Bouddha en dlsant: 6
Blenheureux, je suis un repent! et a pattir de maintenant je
ra'efforceral de me perf ectionner . J ' implore votre pardon pour
mon ignorance et mes doutes vis-a-vis de vos paroles. - II repe-
tait cette priere trois fois de suite. Le Bouddha lui repondait:
C'est bien. Je pardonne votre erreur . A partir de maintenant
6tez les doutes de votre esprit. - Le Tathagata citait la gathS
suivante :

Le repenti efface une grave faute.
Celui qui observe la moralite {Alia) peut
extraire les racines de ses fautes.
Ce bhiksu ainsi que tons les autres acceptaient tous les
conseils du Bouddha et promettalent de bien les appliquer.'

NOTES

1 Voir T2, 566bl et suiv .

2 Voir BSR V. 1. p. 59, n.4.

3 Devadatta -Halt un cousin et disciple du Bouddha. Hals il voulait supprl-
ner ce dernier pour prendre sa place. Sur Devadatta, avec references a routes
le sources pali qui le concerned, voir Malalasekera, Dictionary of PSli Proper
Names I. pp. 1106-11. Voir aussi, E. Lamotte, fraite II. PP .B6B-77. se refer-
ral exhaustlvement aux oeuvres Sanskrit et a celles conserves dans le canon
chinois.

144

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Les cinq graves fautes ou 'peches inantarya ' sont : tuer son pere, tuer
sa m6re, tuer un Arhar , detruire 1'unioci du Sangha, blesser un Bouddha. En
effet Devadatta a coromis trols pethes inantarya: a) le schisme, b) blessure
infligee au Buddha, c) blessure mortelle infligee a une Arhati - Lamotte,
Ibid., pp. 873-5. Cf. aussi Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary,
p. 95 f.

traduction francaise avec
1 'aide du Bhiksu Tri-Bo

INSTITUT BELGE POUR L ' ETUDE

DU BOUDDHISME (IBEB)

(Belgian Institute for Buddhist Studies)

60 rue Entre-deux-Thiers, B-5200 Huy , Belgium

organise chaque annee les cours de
organizes each year the courses listed below

chinois avance: 60 heures par an
Advanced Chinese: 60 periods p. a.

histoire du Bouddhlsme : 15 heures par an
History of Buddhism: 15 periods p. a.

Autres cours sur demande/other optional courses

Les cours recomraenceront en octobre 1988, a l'adresse
suivante/The courses will resume in October 1988, at
the following address:

15 rue des Croisiers, B-4000 Liege (Belgium),

Institut . . , de . , . Recherches Bibliotheconomiques { IPERB) ,
3eme etage / 3rd floor

L'IBEB publie la revue / The IBEB publishes the review
T R I Y. a N A
(2 numeros par an/bi-annual (in French))
Comite / Board

- President/Chairman: J. DANTINNE, 35 rue Lamblnon,

B- 4000 Liege, Belgium

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Thiers, B-5200 Huy. Belgium

- Tresorier/Treasurer: J.M. VERPOORTESI, 17 rue des

Coteaux, B-4800 Verviers, Belgium

145

NEWS AND NOTES

Tuns Lam Linh-So'n International

In a previous issue of this journal (BSR II, 1-2, pp. 66-8) the
activities of Ven. Dr Thich Huyln-Vi were recorded: his founding,
with the support of the Association bouddhique Linh-So'n at Join-
ville-le-Pont (Paris) and affiliated Linh-So'n associations in
the USA and elsewhere, of the Monasters bouddhique Linh-So'n to-
gether with a Buddhist research institute attached to it, as
well as Linh-So'n branch temples found by now on all continents.
The Linh-Sota headquarters serving, besides many other things,
as a training centre for a steadily increasing numbers of monks
and nuns, soon ran short of space despite having been enlarged
by an annexe.

Fortunately two years ago one half of a hamlet, virtually
deserted and dilapidated but situated in peaceful and beautiful
surroundings, was discovered some 40 km north of Limoges, near
the village of Banc on (Chateauponsac ) , with nearly 30 hectares
of grounds, and it was acquired for use by the Linh-So'n Sangha.
Since then, members of the Linh-So'n community have been hard
at work rebuilding and converting their ' Dharma Villa ' into a
magnificent Buddhist centre. That they have admirably succeeded
could be witnessed by all those who were present on 28th August
last to participate in the inauguration ceremony. So far, a
huge shrine-hall accomodating 500 people, quarters for monks
and a nunnery have been completed. Two further buildings have
been renovated and furnished, one serving as a library with a
spacious lecture hall on the ground floor, the other as a kitchen
and refectory.

Thus the first phase of establishing the new headquarters
and would-be international Buddhist centre has been completed.
Further phases are to follow: the construction, for Instance,
of a guest house, of a meditation centre where everybody genu-
inely interested in bhavana will hopefully benefit from facili-
ties conducive to intensive mental training, of a kind of Bud-
dhist old peopled home and of suitable accomodation for several
Linh-So'n Buddhist youth organizations.

146

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

News and Notes

One final remark about the meaning of Tang-Lam Jt-^-t the new
name of Linh-So'n International Centre in south-western France.
The director of Tung-Lfm Linh-So'n, Ven Thich Huygn-Vi, has deli-
berately chosen this name harking back to a time-honoured tradi-
tion of both Vietnam and China, where Buddhist training centres
of a larger scale were often called Tilng-LSm (Cdng-Lfn), which
corresponds to ' Mahavihara ' , The ^literal meaning, however, is
'dense forest* being evergfeenj -shady and in so many ways useful
to sentient beings.

On the occasion of the formal opening ceremony, which was
attended by local civil and religious dignitaries, a unique publi-
cation was released. Entitled Maha-Pra jiiaparami tl Mrdaya -Sti t ra ,
this opens with a long commentary on the Heart Sutra by Ven.
Thich Huy§n-Vi, 'Le Sutra de la Grande Sagesse pour rejoindre
1 'autre Rive de l'Eveil', and Includes the text in the numerous
Chinese translations, (Sanskrit) Devanagarl and Tibetan (script
and roman), Pali ( romanised ) , Mongol, Manchu, Japanese, English,
French and Vietnamese, together with all the seals and calligraphy
that are being serially reproduced at the beginning of each issue

of BSR.

********

The alms and objects of Tung-Lfm are:

to train monks, enabling them to disseminate the Dharma in
the name of the Association and of the Buddhist Community,

to create a Centre where the Sangha can practise the Dharma
efficaciously ,

to admit and teach aspirants who wish to be ordained, without
distinction of sex or nationality,

to raise and educate the young according to Buddhist princi-
ples,

to guide lay Buddhists in deepening their mental purification
and to teach them the Dharma,

to help outsiders to understand Buddhism better, to lead a
simple and noble life, beneficial to both themselves and others,

to perpetuate and develop Buddhist culture (Buddhist arts
and the Dharma) in the eyes of Westerners.

All-Unlon Conference of Soviet Buddhologlsts

Approximately 150 participants met in Moscow at the Institute

of Oriental Studies in November 1987 and heard ten papers and
forty-five communications over a period of two days. (No less
than 114 abstracts of communications had been printed prior to
the proceedings.) The major centres of academic research into
Buddhism have long been Moscow, Leningrad - and Ulan Ude, and re-
presentatives from them discussed topics of interest under the
following-headings":

Ulster!/, The main achievement in this field is the comprehensive
study of source materials which embrace both archaeological exca-
vations (notably former Kusana monastic sites under the supervi-
sion of B.A. Litvinsky and B.Y. Stavisky) and the publication
of texts and translations from Central Asia (especially the Sans-
krit Has by G.M. Bongard -Levin) . As was made clear, work is
also continuing on investigation Into Buddhist doctrine, didactic
literature, medicine and art as described in Buryat, Mongol and
Tibetan documents, but especially in the Kanjur and Tanjur.
Papers were read on specific tenets - dharmas, karma, skandhas,
Nlrvlna and sunyati, and discussions ensued on historical studies
of traditional Buddhism as well as on popular manifestations
in the Far East .

Culture. This category Included discussions on iconography,
the restoration and classification of canonical texts, Buddhist
hagiography, historical chronicles, and the relationship between
Buddhist and shamanist traditions. Specific aspects of the visual
arts were the subject of several papers and the consensus of
4 opinion was that urgent attention should be given to the Buddhist
artefacts in the museum collections of the Soviet Union (in par-
ticular, the Hermitage. Leningrad, the Museum of Arts of the
Peoples of the East, Moscow, and the Ts . Sampllov Museum, Ulan
Ude) .

Current Developments. - subdivided into three main subjects:
1) The role of Buddhism in the public life of Asian countries
which acknowledged the 'use of Buddhist concepts in 'national
liberation struggles' and in the 'thirdly of development' (i.e.
'Buddhist socialism'). The Theravadin Sangha and the Sokagakkal
were cited as examples of present-day practitioners of the latter.
Because of its historical importance and influential position
in society, socialist [i.e. Communist] administrations should

148

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

co-operate with the monastic community, particularly in economi-
cally undeveloped regions. Indeed, 'an in-depth study o£ Buddhist
tradition may prove to be helpful in shaping certain aspects
of the socialist tradition,'

2} Tibetan medicine and the psychological aspects of Buddhism.
3) Applied studies of Buddhism.

The Conference plans 'to promote the cohesion of Buddhological
studies with natural sciences. With the proper organization
and placement of scientific personnel further studies of Buddhism
can offer a major contribution to our understanding of the proces-
ses of development of the philosophy, logic and psychology common
to all mankind . '

It was also resolved to;
•1) Regard the following long-term trends in Buddhological studies
as having paramount Importance:

- cataloguing and describing Buddhist manuscripts, translating
primary sources, compiling dictionaries and reference books etc.;

- studying the history of Buddhism;

- studying the religious system of Buddhism;

- studying the ideological, political and social role of
Buddhism in the present-day situation.

2) Regard it advisable to concentrate the efforts of Soviet
Buddhologists upon preparing thematic collections of articles.

3) Propose to the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences
to set up an All-Union Association of Buddhologists within the
framework of the All-Union Association of Orientalists and to
entrust to it the functions to implement the proposals of the
present Conference.

4) Consider it advisable to convene a World Conference of Buddho-
logists in 1991.

5) With a view to improve the training and selection of specia-
lists in Buddhology address to the Ministry of Higher Education
of the USSR the proposal to introduce periodical courses of lec-
tures on Buddhism in Orientalist, philosophical and historical
departments where the required experts are available,"

'In the opinion of the Conference members Buddhist dialectics
may prove to be one of the methods of new thinking capable not
only of saving raankind from self-destruction but also of reestab-

News and Notes

149

lishing the balance between the human civilization and nature.'

Abridged from Buddhists for Peace 10, 1, Ulan Bator

Ed. The opportunity should be taken to publicise the appearance in recent
years of full-length studies on or about Russian Indology. Background materi-
als are provided by G. Bongard-Levin and A. Vigasin in The Image of India.
A Study Of Ancient Indian Civlisations in the USSR (Moscow 1984) - with two
chapters devoted to S. Oldenburg and Th. Stcherbatsky, and R.H. Stacy India
in Russian Literature (Delhi 1985) - a chronological analysis. Textual studies
are well represented by the prolific writings of Bongard-Levin, whose latest
surveys comprise Indian Texts from Central Asia (Leningrad Manuscript Collec-
tion) and New Sanskrit Fragments of the WahaySna Maniparinirvanasiitra (Central
Asian Manuscript Collection at Leningrad) - both published by the International
Institute for Buddhist Studies (Tokyo 1986). Apart from the periodic reprint
of the English works of Stcherbatsky, E. Obernllleir's translation of the major
historical work by Bu-ston has been reproduced in two parts in the Bibliotheca
Indo-Buddhica Series (Delhi): The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet
(1986) and The Jewelry of Scripture (1987). Two essays by the same translator
have been offprinted by another publisher in Delhi under the titles nirvana
In Tibetan Buddhism (1987) and PrajFlSparamlta In Tibetan Buddhism (1988).
Of incomparable reference value is the bibliographical index of 'International
Congresses of Orientalists 1873-1983' (Leningrad 1984), whilst Knud Lundbaek
has contributed the first detailed biography of T. S. Bayer' (1694-1738). Pioneer
Sinologist {Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen -Lend on 1986),
who was also closely associated with the newly-founded Academy of Sciences
in St Petersburg.

Symposium on the date of the Buddha

When Simon de La Loubere visited Slam in 1687, he found an era
in use there which, when correlated with the Christian era, indi-
cated that the Buddha had died in 544 B.C. When, however. Western
scholars began to read Buddhist texts they discovered that accor-
ding to the Sinhalese chronicles the Buddha died 218 years before
the consecration of Asoka, which can be dated c.268 B.C., while
the Northern Buddhist texts indicated that Asoka had lived only
100 or 110 years after the Buddha. These figures give c.486
B.C. and somewhere in the second quarter of the fourth century
B.C., respectively, for the date of the Buddha's death.

A calculation which gave a date of 483 B.C. received strong
support from such scholars as Wilhelm Geiger, and for a long

150

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

time this was the view most generally accepted, although there
were still those who advocated the later date. The last decade
or so has seen the publication of a number of papers which have
re-examined the evidence and suggested that the numbers 100 and
218 should not be taken literally. It has become clear that
the time has now arrived for the whole matter to be Investigated
once again in the light of recent discoveries, especially in
the field of archaeology.

To this end, a symposium 'On the date of the historical Buddha
and the importance of its determination for historiography and
world history' was held at HederaOnden, a village some 20 kms
south of Gottingen, from the Uth to the 18th of April 1988.
It was sponsored by the Committee for Buddhist Studies of the
Academy of Sciences In Gottingen. and organised by Professor
Heinz Bechert. More than fifty participants from a dozen or
so countries were invited, although in the event not everyone
was able to attend.

The papers read at this conference fell into several differ-
ent categories:

1) those which were purely research tools, i.e. translations
of texts or portions of texts which give information about the
date of the Buddha, or information about such texts, or surveys
of previous investigations into the problem;

2) those which dealt with the Importance of the date for histori-
ography and world history;

3) those which tried to find a methodology which might be of
help in the search for the date of the historical Buddha;

4) those which actually tried to fix a date for the death of
the historical Buddha.

Papers dealing with the importance for historiography and
world history discussed the various dates of the Buddha which
are found In individual countries or traditions, e.g. in China,
India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Tibet or Vietnam.
They concentrated mainly upon the many dates which are given
for the Buddha in Chinese texts, which represent the conflict
between the various Chinese sects for whom the date was a matter
of theological politics, or upon the way in which the Buddhist
countries of South-East Asia, including those such as Indonesia

Mews and Notes

151

where Buddhism Is now increasing in importance, all adhere to
the traditional date of 544 B.C.

Most of those papers which tried to establish a methodology
took some aspect of Indian culture and, by extrapolating back
from the known state of that culture at the time of ASoka , tried
to deduce how long had elapsed in the meantime, e.g. by investi-
gating the sites at which ASoka published edicts of a religious
nature. The geographical spread of Buddhism which this revealed
was compared with the area covered in the canonical texts, which
were assumed to reflect accurately the extent of Buddhism at
the time of the Buddha. Other papers tried to deduce the nature
of Buddhism as depicted by the Asokan inscriptions, e.g. the
development of the cult of previous Buddhas, and tried to define
a time lapse for such a development.

Further papers noted that the growth of Buddhism coincided
with the growth in trade and the spread of urbanisation, since
it is clear that Buddhism appealed to the wealthy middle-class
trading community. To some extent this method of enquiry coinci-
ded with the archaeological approach, which examined the archaeo-
logical evidence for the probable state of development of the
towns and cities which the Buddha, according to the canonical
texts, visited in his life-time. Another line of approach was
to consider the lists of elders who are alleged to have lived
between the time of the Buddha or his contemporary Mahavlra,
the Jain leader, and the time of ASoka. Another was to consider
the lists of kings given in the Puranas together with the lengths
of their reigns, in an attempt to give a date to kings known
to be contemporary with the Buddha. Some attention was paid
to the possibility of dating the Buddha by means of extra-Indian
references, although it was noted that the extant portions of
Megasthenes' writings make no reference to Buddhists or Buddhist
monuments which he might have been expected to see In Patallputra,
while specific Greek references to the Buddha are too late to
be of any value. One paper investigated the possibility of making
a .contribution to the subject by dating Iranian texts which refer
to the Buddha.

All these methods of approach to the problem had both suppor-
ters and critics. Several of them suffer from the fact that

152

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

they are the products of a form of circular argument, since in
many cases the seemingly Independent dating of the critera adop-
ted is in fact based on the assumed date of the Buddha. Other
methods suffer from the fact that we do not know whether the
evidence is satisfactory. We cannot tell whether the fact that
Asok.:'s inscriptions addressed to the Sangha are found at a limi-
ted number of sites proves that Buddhism spread no further than
the confines of those areas. Nor do we know whether it is pos-
sible to estimate the state of Buddhism at the time of ASoka
from his inscriptions and, if it is, to date the rate of religi-
ons development which they reveal. It is uncertain whether we
can rely upon the lengths of reigns of kings and the ages of
elders which are given in the texts. It must be remembered that
although the spread of Buddhism coincided with urbanisation and
the growth of trade, this does not necessarily prove that the
origin of Buddhism similarly coincided, since it is quite pos-
sible that Buddhism began in a pre-urban rural society but made
little progress until the rise of the merchant class.

Some methods could be shown to he of little or no value,
at least in our present state of knowledge. In the absence of
any way of dating the canonical texts of the various schools
of Buddhism, or of measuring the rate of linguistic change, any
investigation into the language of the various canons as a means
of dating the Buddha would seem unpromising. One or two methods,
however, seem to hold out hope of making a contribution to the
problem, although in some cases preliminary results appear some-
what contradictory. Archaeological evidence for the date of
foundation of some of the cities which the Buddha is alleged
to have visited seems to indicate that they could not have been
founded as early as the sixth century B.C., which militates again-
st the Buddha having died c.483 B.C. On the other hand, cross-
checking the Puranic lists against each other seems to indicate
that they are consistent in placing the kings who were ruling
at the time of the Buddha earlier rather than later. The archaeo-
logical evidence, however, is open to the objection that for
dates around 500 B.C. the accuracy of Carbon 14 dating is ± 100
years, while the possibility cannot be ruled out that references
to cities which did not, in fact, exist at the time of the Buddha
may have been inserted anachronisticaliy into the canons for

News and Notes

153

reasons of prestige or politics. Until we have further evidence
for the way in which state archives were kept, e.g. in writing
or in some other way, there will be doubts about the accuracy
of the Information given In the Puranic texts. Similarly, the
life spans given for elders, both Buddhists and Jains, have been
dismissed as inaccurate, although it seems possible that some
of the Information given about them, particularly the early ones,
could be used if great care were taken.

The propriety of the very uee of the word 'chronology' in
some contexts was questioned, particularly in such phrases as
'The earliest available sources for the long chronology [of 544
B.C.] are the DIpavamsa, the Mahlvarasa and the Samantapasadika ' ,
when what all the sources were doing was repeating the tradition
about the elapse of 218 years between the death of the Buddha
and the coronation of Asoka. A warning was uttered against be-
lieving Implicitly in the regnal years apportioned by the Sinha-
lese Pall chronicles. It could be shown that in some cases the
chronology was reconstructed by apportioning years arbitrarily
on a mythical footing, often based upon the number 18, simply
to fill gaps between more certain dates. It therefore followed
that any deductions based upon precise regnal years during suspect
periods would be equally suspect .

Although there were those who still favoured a date c.483
B.C. for the death of the Buddha, and who spoke firmly in favour
of the 'dotted record' of Canton, there was a general tendency
among those who tried to date the Buddha to avoid early dates,
and settle upon something nearer the short chronology which dates
the death of the Buddha c.365 B.C. In its most extreme form
this was expressed as a suggestion that Asoka and Ajatasatru
were identical, which would make the Buddha a contemporary of
Asoka. Such a view could only be tenable on the basis that there
was a pre-Buddhist cult of former Buddhas . Although this is
not impossible, since the term 'buddha" is common to both Bud-
dhists and Jains and is probably pre-Buddhist, there is no evi-
dence at present for such a cult existing before the time of
Gotama Buddha.

It is not unknown for participants in such conferences to
come with preconceived ideas which are in no wise changed by

15*

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988

anything which is said at the conference. It was very encoura-
ging, therefore, to hear some participants say, at the end of
the Symposium, that they might well have to re-write large por-
tions of their papers in the light of what they had heard in
papers and dicussions.

For this reason it is not possible, at this point, to give
a definitive answer to the question 'What did this symposium
achieve?' That answer must await the publication of the proceed-
ings of the meeting, which everyone interested in the subject
must hope will not be delayed too long,

K.R. S or man

Ed. The latest (and on i y3 , fuXX-length works on the subject are V.G. Rmach.,,-
dran Cauthama the Buddha, The Date and Tlae (International Society for the
Investigation of Ancient Civilization. Madras 1985), and Shrlraa Sathe Dates
of the Buddha (Bharatiya Itlhasa Sankalana Samiti. Hyderabad 1987).

Research Institute in India

In his memory and as a tangible and permanent tribute to his
own considerable scholarship, the Bhikkhu Jagdish Kashyap Insti-
tute of Buddhist and Asian Studies was established at Sarnath
in 1987.

This centre's objectives will be to:

- promote Buddhist and Asian studies, past and present, on a
multidiscipiinary basis;

- prepare study tools;

- support individual or institutional academic projects related
to the Institute ;

- maintain and develop a library and documentation centre and
to disseminate Information;

publish source materials and translations, periodicals or
newsletters ;

- sponsor relevant conferences and seminars.
LTWA branch in USA

The first overseas branch of the Library of Tibetan Works and
Archives (Dharamsaia) will be opened in Seattle. Washington,
under the direction of Jagdal Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche. Apart

News and Notes

155

from serving the immediate needs of the local Sakyapa g6npa (of
which it will form part), it will encourage interest from the
public by means of a reading room and by offering a reference
library of books and tapes. The new centre will house collec-
tions on Tibetan Buddhism, art, history, language and medicine
and will become one of the main repositories for Buddhist and
Tibetan texts in the West.

Buddhist Forum 1968-9 at SPAS

This series of seminars on various aspects of Buddhism: history,
philosophy, religion, philology, art and architecture, is a con-
tinuation of those Initiated last academic year. Convened, as
before, by Dr T. Skorupski at the School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London, 4.30-6.00 pm in Rooa G58, the
first seminar took place on 12 October. Other dates are 9 Novem-
ber, 14 December; and 18 January, 8 February, 8 March and 10
May 1989. Details of the papers and participants are not yet
to hand .

BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW INDEX

Now that we have completed our fifth volume,
it is hoped to produce a comprehensive index
up to date for despatch with Vol. 6, No.l.

156

OBITUARY

RENE DE BERVAL C 1911-87)

There can pe no Journal dealing with cultural relations in Asia
which can forget the great model , * France-* sie, Revue mensuelle de
culture et de synthese f ranco-asiatique ' , the some two hundred
issues of which appeared over the period from 1946 to the early
'70s. It was the reason for living of a French writer and Orien-
talist, Rene de Berval, who died in Tokyo on 28 December 1987.

When a great scholar dies, it is usually said that a library
has gone with him. In the case of Rene de Berval, it is less
his scholarship that is to be regretted than his prodigious ex-
perience. There was even a vague question in Japan of making
a film of his life, but the variety and even contradictions of
that life would have discouraged any producer. One and the same
man was a rising star of the french literary world between the
two World Wars, an unflinching fighter in WW2 , a publicist who
devoted himself totally to the preservation of good sense and
sviuoathy in the still continuing tragedy of ex-French Indochina.

As a young poet, de Berval associated closely with literary
personalities in France of whom the best known outside the count-
ry was undoubtedly Jean Cocteau. However Parisian and refined
they may have been, de Berval 's tastes were not reactionary.
He was close to the post-surrealist avant-garde, especially the
group of the Grand Jen. Was it in that atmosphere that, like
Louis Daumal, he came into contact with Indian thought? Did
he reach it through the Gnosis of Rene Guenon? The fact is that
Indian, particularly Buddhist, thought, later augmented by a
touch of Taoism, was in future to direct his life. Another as-
pect of his avant-garde position are the articles by him which
can be read in the immediate post-War Left-wing Journals, Marian-
ne, vendredi and Vendemlaire . By allowing Spanish intellectuals
who had escaped the Francoist Obscurantism to speak, he was pre-
paring his role as editor of France-Asle ,

During the Second World War he followed General Leclerc to
Indochina where he */as able to realise his dream of knowing Asia
which was not, at that time, within reach of the first charter

Obituary

157

flight. He had the good luck, while travelling there, to touch
both poles of Indo-Chinese culture: India, due to a long stopover
in Calcutta, then prey to confrontations between Hindus and Mus-
lims; China, where he drew to the cause of Free France soldiers
of the army of Indochina who had taken refuge in Yunnan after
the Japanese power's coup in March 1945.

On the launching wrapper of the first issue of France-Asie
(15 April 1946), Leclerc had written: 'To members of the Expedi-
tionary Corps Franee-Asie will contribute knowledge of that Indo-
china which they have Just liberated.' In fact, this was not
the tone given to the young Journal in an Indochina which was
still highly colonial, where opinion was often led by the journal
L'uni on franchise of Henry de LachevrStl^re . Rene de Berval
was not a conformist, nor the least timid - as is known by all
those who knew him but a little. Frail in appearance, he was
incredibly tough.

France-Asie rapidly became a fascinating journal. It had
three orientations: to make known the cultures of Asia, to re-
flect cultural life in the West, and to constitute a forum for
cultural and often political exchanges between East and West.
Its contributors and readers were Vietnamese as well as French.
In the Orientalist field, France-^sie benefited from the begin-
ning from the collaboration of the Ecole francaise d ' Extreme-Orient .
In the Western sphere, de Berval benefited from his old contacts
in France. Finally, the forums played the part of an indispen-
sable buffer between an authority, for which de Berval constitu-
ted a more or less tolerated opponent , and the various Independent
tendencies, which found it much harder to make themselves heard.
Each issue was an act of faith in the future of Vietnam. Nonethe-
less, it was not the Vietminh who expelled de Berval from Saigon,
but the pro-American regime of the Catholic mandarin Ngo Dinh
Diem,

Rene de Berval established France-^sie in Japan in 1960.
Rene Capitant , the dynamic director of the Maison Franco-Japonaise
in Tokyo, hoped for the presence of the journal in Japan in order
to give new impetus to Franco-Japanese cultural cooperation.
Unfortunately, even after becoming bi-lingual (French-English),
the Journal was unable to count on a vast public capable of read-

158

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988 J

ing Western languages. On the other hand, Vietnam, welcoming
and politically enthusiastic, was very different from the low-
profile Japan of the '60s, haunted by problems of economy and
profitability, Perhaps unjustly, de Berval took the reserve
of the Japanese for coldness, and their over-sentimentality for
heaviness and vulgarity. Nonetheless, Issues 164-182 of France*
Asie are of high quality. It was after the transfer to Paris,
when de Berval held only nominal direction 'for Asia 1 , that the
issues (183-203, 1964-70) becane more lifeless. An attempt at
a resurrection under new direction occurred in 1974 (issues 204-
207} but, Just as the cahiers de la Quimaine are inconceivable
without Charles Peguy, there could be no France-Asie without
Ren£ de Berval.

Practically without knowing it, de Berval could still help
his friends In Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos by means of broadcasts
in French which he produced for some time on NHK. During the
Khmer Rouge turmoil several prisoners, including his friend Noro-
dom Sihanouk, kept in touch with the world thanks to its voice.

Rene de Berval fell ill and was abandoned by the NHK. After
having benefited from the translation of certain works commission-
ed by the Sokagakkai (without - it must be acknowledged - any
pressure being put on this Buddhist who called himself a Thera-
vadin, but who was above all an adherent of the Doctrine of Empti-
ness), de Berval was able to devote his final - and immense -
energy to a project which was to reach fruition just before
he died. In the last issues of France-Asie which appeared in
Vietnam, he had published a compendium of more than 1,000 pages
entitled 'Presence du Bouddhisme ' . The publishers. Editions
Gallimard, offered to republish in their collection 'Biblioth^que
illustrfee des histoires" a new edition of this work with numerous
up-datlngs. This project enabled him to renew contact with the
survivors among the contributors of the original work. He also
wanted to bear testimony to the martyred Buddhism of Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos. When, at the beginning of December 1987,
he received the first copy of his work, 'rejuvenated' with much
success, the hearts of his friends were wrung: had the effort
to reach the culmination not been his last links which held him
to life? He died in the Mitsui Memorial Hospital in Tokyo.
After a Buddhist ceremony on the forty-ninth day, which took

Obituary

159

place on 11 February 1988 in the Asakusa temple, his ashes were
enshrined In a crematorium belonging to the Higashi Honganji
in Yamashima (Kyoto).

Hubert Dart

Ed. Abridged and translated from £a Voix , Spring 1988.

PRESENCE DU BOUDDHISME

edited by Rene de Berval
(in French)

A brief summary of contents and contributors, with preliminary
notices by P. Levy, J. Filliozat and R. de Berval:

BUDDHISM

I Comparative Approach: P. Mus, G. Tucci, F. Schuon.

II The Original Doctrine: Ven. Nyanatiloka, Ven. W
Ven. Narada, I.B, Horner, A. Bareau .

III The Texts: S. Thierry,

IV The Swing towards Mysticism
D.T. Suzuki, D. Delannoy.

V The Diffusion: A. Bareau, J.

VI Conclusions: J. Filliozat,
La mot te .

Rahulc

Sr. Dhatmaraksita, N, Dutt,

Filliozat, P. Levy.

J. Auboyer, B.R. Ambedkar , E.

EXPANSION OF BUDDHISM IN ASIA
Chronology by R. de Berval.

I The HInayana: D.T, Valisinha, D.T. Devendra , J. Perrin, L.
Gabaude, P.-B, Lafont, Ven. Pang Khat.

II The Mahayana: A. Migot, R. Ki-yong, G. Renondeau & B. Frank,
A. David-Neel, L , -C . Damais, Mai-Tho-Truye"n.

Glossary, Bibliography, Contributors, Maps and Illustrations
816 pp. 151 illustrations FF 360

BibliothSque lllustrSe des Histoires

Editions Gallimard
5 rue Sebastien-Bottin
F-75007 PARIS, France

160

BOOK REVIEWS

Heart of Wisdom : A Commentary to the Heart Sutra . Geshe Kelsang
Cyatso. Tharpa Publications, London 1986. xix, 210 pp. £6.95.

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, who was born in Western Tibet in 1932,
was ordained when he was eight and studied at Sera College, the
famous monastic university near Lhasa, before fleeing Tibet In
1959. He first came to the West in 1977, and has since then
held the position of resident teacher at Hanjushri Institute
in Ulverston (England). Among his publications, best known is
the excellent Meaningful to Behold, an extensive commentary on
Santideva's ' Bodhisattvacaryavatara ' , which originated as a verse
by verse oral commentary given to his students at the Institute
and later worked up by them into book form. Encouraged, perhaps,
by the success of this earlier collaborative effort, the Geshe
and his students have now gone on to present in book form his
commentary on one of the best-loved of all Mahayana texts, the
brief but extremely important Hrdaya or Heart Sutra, here called
the Heart of wisdom. It is the longer of the two versions which
has been chosen for treatment, and the commentary itself, which
has been organized along traditional lines, is in accord with
the Interpretation of Je Tsongkhapa . The Sutra has been divided
into numbered sections with the meaning of each being explained
in turn and, to facilitate reference, a complete outline, in
which each numbered section has been given yet another number
(the outline code), is provided at the end of the book. Despite
this somewhat technical approach, we are assured that the book
is 'not primarily aimed at academic scholars, but is intended
for those who wish to gain practical benefit from a better under-
standing of Buddha's teachings'. We are further informed that
the Heart Sutra was selected for commentary because it is in the
Perfection of Wisdom Sutras that 'the Buddha sets forth his ulti-
mate view of the nature of reality'; and the Heart Sutra contains,
'explicitly or implicitly', the essence and entire aeaning of
those longer sutras. Although this Sutra, dealing as it does
with the knotty concept of 'emptiness', is hy no means an easy
text, with patient study and contemplation it can be fully under-
stood, and it is the aim of Geshe Kelsang 's commentary to help
promote just such a full understanding.

Book Reviews

161

Besides the commentary proper, which takes up a lengthy 141
pages, the book is provided with a Preface by Philip Wood, a
running translation of the Sutra, a concluding chapter (12) which
describes 'A Method to Overcome Hindrances' through recitation
of the SOtra, notes, a somewhat skimpy bibliography about which
I shall have more to say later, an extensive English-Tibetan
glossary (although the Tibetan text of the Sutra is not given)
into which a few Sanskrit terms have been inserted, the 'Outline
of the Text', and a fairly detailed index. Physically the book
is a sturdy and well-designed paperback, in a beautifully illus-
trated stiff paper cover, is printed on excellent paper in a
large, clear and handsome typeface, and contains, as an added
bonus, fifteen line illustrations. So well designed and produced
is this book, in fact, that if the ink had been a little more
uniformly black it would have little difficulty passing as a
fine press book.

One of the first things that one notices when one begins
to read this splendidly produced book is the absence of capitals
on words such as 'mahayana", 'buddhism', ' bodhisattva ' , 'tatha-
gata', and so on. No explanation is given for this procedure,
but insofar as certain of these words are numinous terms whose
meaning cannot ultimately be exhausted, it certainly seems to
me that they deserve the dignity of capitalization. Another
feature one notes, this one perfectly reasonable, is that the
spelling of Sanskrit words has been 'anglicized' {'shravaka',
'klesha', 'Rajagriha', etc.) so as to avoid the troublesome,
expensive and, for the general reader, meaningless business of
diacritics (which do not even appear in the glossary or index).
More important, and in accordance with the best modern practice,
is the way that the Sanskrit (or Tibetan) has occasionally been
given in parentheses following certain technical terms: 'great
being (mahasat t va) ' , mind of enlightenment (bodtiichitta)' , 'space
(nam mkha)', etc. This, if it had been carried out consistently
and through to the end (it seems to peter out at a certain point),
would have been splendid, for it is the only way to make Buddhist
works intelligible, whether they are destined for an academic
or a general readership. Perhaps the lack of consistency in
this respect stems from a fear of making the book appear too
difficult or obscure, a fear that may also be reflected in the

162

Buddhist Studies Review S, 2 (1986)

book's preference for translated terminology: 'superior being'
for arya; 'hearer' for sfiravata ; 'solitary conqueror' for pratyeka-
buddha ; 'foe-destroyer' for arhat, and so on.

The book's English, although generally correct, Is marked
by a certain aridity (Oh, when' will we ever again see such a
master of English prose as Conze writing on Buddhist subjects! ),
and one notes the occasional lapse, as, for instance, on p.lx:
'The wish to be free from suffering... is the basic desire of
all beings: it was Csic) at the time of the Buddha etc.', instead
of 'it was so at the time of the Buddha'; or on p. 13: 'There
was another reason that (sic) Buddha radiated light etc.', in-
stead of (since it is not one Buddha among several that is being
referred to) 'There was another reason why the Buddha radiated
light etc.'. In both cases the writing is misleading and ambigu-
ous because it has become too informal and relaxed. A weak and
uninteresting treatment of English is, however, often evident
in books produced by Tibetophiles , though why this should be
so I do not know. Perhaps their study of Tibetan, which is,
by all accounts, a monotonous and unmusical language (like Japan-
ese), has served to destroy their ear for the sounds and natural
rhythms of English. But whatever may be the case, it is this
aridity of style, coupled with the fussy and pedantic outline
which has been imposed upon the book, that makes it for me such
a difficult book to read. Because of the outline approach, an
approach initially worked out in India to facilitate the memori-
zation of texts and borrowed from India by the Tibetans, every -
thing must be explained, including the outline itself, and whether
the commentator has anything of significance to say or not.
With a masterpiece such as Sgam.po.pa's Jewel Ornament of Libera-
tion, where the subject matter is far more varied and interesting,
the form is not quite so obtrusive. Here, however, it seems
to lead to a great deal of dullness and wordiness, and even at
times to a certain silliness, as on p. 5; 'This sutra is given
the name "Mother" because the perfection of wisdom that it re-
veals is often called "Mother".' Black cats, in short, are black
because cats are often black. This is pure tautology, tells
us nothing, and seems to me to be a sheer waste of time.

So far as 1 can see, what we have here is not really a book
for the general reader at all. One need only compare the bibllo-

Book Reviews

163

graphy of Geshe Kelsang's earlier Meaningful to Behold (1980
edition ) with that of the Heart of Wisdom to see that something
has happened. The earlier bibliography is much fuller (48 items),
nore general, and contains titles by writers such as Blofeld,
Chang, Conze, Merton and even Paramahansa Yogananda . The latter
bibliography contains only nine titles, all exclusively Tibetan,
and it coapletely ignores the many important Indian, Chinese
and Japanese commentaries which are currently available in Eng-
lish. It also fails to mention the alternative translations,
from the Sanskrit and Chinese, that any serious student of this
Sutra (whether academic or otherwise) ought to be familiar with.
The Heart of wisdom is evidently a sectarian and somewhat specia-
lized book, directed at those Tibetophiles who have an abiding
interest in what one such has described to me as 'the pure doc-
trine of Je" Tsongkhapa'. To all such, I do not doubt that what
strikes me as pedantic, tedious, wordy and unhelpful, could well
be the purest of gold.

To the general reader I would recommend, at least to start
with, not so much a study of Geshe Kelsang's somewhat dry and
difficult commentary, as memorization of the Sutra upon which
it is based (preferably In Conze 's shorter and more euphonious
version). This ought to be followed by a reading of Ch'an Master
Han Shan's 'A Straight Talk on the Heart Sutra' (which has at
least the advantage of brevity), and Francis Cook's essay on
Dogen, 'Dogen's View of Authentic Selfhood and its Soclo-ethlcal
Implications' , where the student will learn (among other things)
just why it is far better to translate sUnyata as 'openness'
instead of Geshe Kelsang's more orthodox, and more obscure, 'emp-
tiness'. Finally, and in order to attain to at least the begin-
ning of an understanding of this obscure but key concept of 'open-
ness/emptiness', a concept that might otherwise remain puzzling
for years, the student should read Douglas Harding's unique and
Invaluable On Having No Head . Having thus memorized the Sutra,
arrived at a general Idea of what it Is about, and developed
some insight into its central concept of ' openness/emptiness ' ,
the interested student, always supppslng that he is keen to find
out just what the Gelug lineage has to say about this Sutra,
will be prepared to turn to Geshe Kelsang's exhaustive commentary.
To those thus prepared and motivated, the Heart of wisdom might

164

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

well do a deal of good, but to the unprepared it seems to me
that it would be much more likely to dampen than promote inter-
est in this most fascinating of texts.

In Lu K'uan Yu {Charles Luk), Ch'an ana Zen Teaching .- Series One, Rider,
London I960, pp. 209-23.

2 **" a

In William R. UFleur. e d., Dogen studies. Univ. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu

1985. pp. 131-49. See, especially, p. 139: 'Recent translations of the Sanskrit
Buddhist term sOnyatS as "boundless openness", "luminosity", and the like
by Herbert Gunther (sic), Masao Abe, and others is ( S ic> i„ nan y ways prefer-
able to the older, widespread translation of the term as 'emptiness". These
newer translations avoid the negative flavour of "emptiness"...'.

On Having No Head t Zen and the Re-Discovery of the Obvious. 2nd rev. ed . .
Arkana, London 1986.

A . Saroop

The History of the 'Bu ddha's Religion ( Swnava am. 1 . Translated
by Blmala Churn Law, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhlca No. 29. Sri Satguru
Publications, Delhi 1986. xvii, 174 pp. R s 120.

The Sasanavamsa was written in Pall In Burma in 1861 by PannSsami,
the tutor of King Mln-don-min, who held the Fifth Buddhist Coun-
cil between 1868 and 1871. It is based upon an earlier work
written in Burmese in 1831, which in turn was presumably based
upon earlier sources. The additions made cover the period from
1831 to 1860. It begins with an account of the first three Bud-
dhist Councils, and then deals with the history of the Doctrine
in the nine places to which Asoka sent missionaries, laying espe-
cial emphasis upon the history of the Dhamma in SIhala , Suvanna-
bhumi. and Aparanta, which is interpreted as being part of Burma,
as opposed to the western part of India. Included in this his-
torical account are many details of authors and the works they
wrote, and Paftftasaml frequently states the texts which he Is
using as an authority for the statements he makes. The work
is useful for the information it includes about the history of
Buddhism and the books which were written, particularly in Buraa.
in mediaeval times.

The Pali text of the Sasanavamsa was published by the Pali

Book Reviews

165

Text Society in 1897. Despite the fact that it appeared less
than forty years after its composition, the text is very corrupt
and In places hard to understand, and B.C. Law's translation
is a useful companion to have at hand when dealing with it.
It has been difficult to obtain in recent years, and its re-
appearance in the Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica series will help
to aake it more widely available. The reverse of the title page
states that it was first published in Calcutta in 1952, but this
would seem to be not entirely correct. Although the book was
printed in Calcutta, it was actually published in London, by
Luzac & Co, Ltd., on behalf of the PTS, as Volume 27 of the Sac-
red Books of the Buddhists series, as p.xiii of the Introduction
makes clear. There is no evidence at the Pali Text Society was
consulted before this reprint was made.

K.R. Norman

The Jewel in the Lotus A Guide to the Buddhist Traditions of
Tibet. Edited by Stephen Batchelor. Wisdom Publications, London
1987. 2 80 pp. £9.95.

Through Tibetan teachers travelling far and wide and through
translations and other books on the subject, the knowledge and
practice of the four main Tibetan Buddhist traditions have spread
to the Western world. According to their dispositions and in-
clinations, Westerners have embraced the tradition of their
choice. Some, not yet having made up their minds, wonder if
the particular lineage they first met with is the right one
for them, having heard of the others. Others, having made their
choice and having seen the wondrous qualities of their own tradi-
tion, while not knowing enough about the others, may look down
upon and even criticize other traditions. This is a dangerous
path and one that arises from ignorance, not only of other lin-
eages, but even of one's own,

Stephen Batchelor has wisely put together an anthology con-
taining selected representative texts from the main Buddhist
traditions of Tibet. His aim, he says, is to introduce newcomers
to all the four main traditions. However, I think tt is a book
that veterans from all four lineages could digest.

The book begins with a brief account of t-he establishment

166

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

of Buddhism in Tibet from the fifth to the twelfth century.
Then follows a general synopsis of the MahSyana Buddhist path
to Enlightenment touching upon all the principal themes - compas-
sion, wisdom, refuge etc., and ending with the four clasaes of
Tantra. This part has been written by the editor himself, and
very well written at that. The meaning comes across clearly
with a cohesive continuity. The approach and style is Geluk,
but this he recognises and freely admits: 'Although I have sought
to be as objective as possible, I recognise that much, of what
I say will inevitably reflect my own twining as a monk in the-
Geluk tradition,' X,

After a chapter entitled Buddhocracy, in which the editor
discusses the social influence Buddhism had on Tibet, together
with a very brief account of the histories of the four lineages,
the main part of '„re book opens with the Kadampa tradition.
Although the Kadampas are not included in the big four, being
forerunners of the Geluk and contributors to the Kagyu, they
nevertheless deserve to be a tradition in their own right with
their unique, earthy style. The Kadampa masters are best known
for their practical discourses and straightforward advice on
Dharma practice, A selection of such advices is presented here.
It includes chose by Atlsa. the founder, his main disciple Drom
and other subsequent masters, concluding with a wonderful piece
from Geshe Shabogaypa criticising himself for being a poor and
hypocritical practitioner, but one immediately takes it as hard-
hitting advice for oneself. The texts, in an abridged form,
are taken from the Door of liberation, an anthology translated
by Geshe Wangyal and his disciples in New Jersey.

The next section presents the Kagyu tradition and what better
representative than JetsUn Milarepa to reveal the true spirit
of this tradition. Milarepa is one of the most famous Tibetan
yogis both inside and outside Tibet. His songs are both inspira-
tional and profound, his enthusiasm and austerity legendary,
his endurance of hardships and devotion to his Guru almost un-
imaginable. Jill, traditions revere him and his exploits and songs
are often recounted to Inspire disciples. Three of these songs,
or more properly collections of songs, are. reproduced here.
They have been taken from The Rain of wisdom, translated by the
Nalanda Translation Committee in Boulder, Colorado.

Book Reviews

167

The chapter on the Nyingma presents a commentary by the re-
nowned yogi Longchen Rabjampa on Gampopa's Four Themes: 1) Turning
the Mind to the Dharma, 2) Practising the Dharma as a Path, 3)
Removing Confusion while on the Path and 4) Purifying Confusion
into Pristine Awareness. Longehenpa was one of the most famous
Nyingma practitioners and received oral transmissions from both
Sakya and Kadam traditions. The commentary introduces the doc-
trine of Dzog-chen, a speciality of the Nyingma, in conjunction
with Tantric practices. The text was originally translated by
Alex Berzin and Sherpa Tulku.

The Geluk section presents a text - or more precisely a let-
ter - by Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Geluk tradition. It
deals with all the main points of the Graduated Path to Enlighten-
ment (Lam-Rim) including .Tantra and a fairly detailed explanation
of Madhyamika philosophy. The text was translated under the
title 'A Brief Exposition of the Main Points of the Graded Sutra
and Tantra courses to Enlightenment'.

Finally, the chapter on the Sakya tradition deals with a
fundamental Sakya teaching, the Parting from the Four Attachments:
1) the attachment to this life, 2) attachment to Samsara , 3)
attachment to self and 4) attachment to true existence. The
original teaching was given by MafljusrI who appeared in a vision
to the Sakya master Sachen Kunga Nyingpo at the age of twelve.
The text here is a commentary to that teaching by the fifteenth
century Sakya master Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo with Butras added
by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. The text describes in great detail
the sufferings found in the six realms of existence and is, in
fact, a brief exposition of the complete path to Enlightenment.
It was translated into English by Sakya Trizin (the present head
of the Sakya tradition) and Ngawang Samten Chophel.

The book comes to a close with a transcript of a talk given
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington, D.C., in 1979.
Here he talks simply and beautifully on his favourite topic of
love and compassion. The text is taken from a collection of
his teachings on Kindness, clarity and insight, translated by Jef-
frey Hopkins.

Whatever other differences there are in the doctrines of
the four traditions, it is clear that the fundamental beliefs

166

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

and methods of practice are the same. There is a difference
in the way of approaching the ultimate truth but H.H. the Dalai
Lama is of the opinion that the ultimate truth can be finally
understood by following the methods of any of the four traditions
Hopefully, this book will go some way in bringing about such
an understanding to the Western world.

Gavin Kilty

Per historlsche Buddha ('Le Bouddha historique'). Hans Wolfgang
Schumann. Eugen Dlederichs Verlag, Cologne 1982. 320 pp., 16
images et cartes. DM 39,40.

Ce livre de H.W. Schumann est un volume supplemental^ aux autres
oeuvres de langue allemande qu'il a ecrit. et qui parle d'une
maniere vivante du bouddhisme (voir aussi: Butdhisnus - stifter ,
Schulen und system <'Le Bouddhisme, son fondateur, les ecolel
at les syetemes), 4e edition 1976). L'auteur nous montre de
facon bien claire tous les indices permettant de reconstituer
la vie du Bouddha. Ainsi le lecteur est tout de suite introduit
dans le monde de l'Inde actuel et ancien a 1'aide d'une compar-
ison des epoques. L'itlneraire a travers les pays du Bouddha
fait revivre toutes les cartes et les plans precis de travail
archeologique, ainsi que les diverses citations des dlscours
doctrinaires tires du Canon pali.

Le lecteur occidental en particulier peut decouvrir lei la
vie d'un homme qui devient sage et qui jusqu'a ses derniers mo-
ments s'exercait a un realisme rigoureux.

En outre l'auteur examine les aspects politiques et sociaux
de 1 'ancien Inde du Kord et donne aussi a 1 'homme de formation
occidentale, habitue a penser de facon historique, un moyen de
bien comprendre 1 'esprit de 1'e^oque du Bouddha. II compare
d 'autres caracteres humains de l'epoque avec le Bouddha et il
nous montre ainsi des structures psychologiques tres differentes
qui expliquent d'un cfite la particularity du Bouddha en indiquant
de 1 'autre c6te la possibility de 1'approche a sa doctrine.
Par consequent, une partie de ce livre est dediee au developpement
de l'Ordre, et sa structure splrituelle, religieuse et sociologi-
que developpee au cours du livre nous donne deji une idee de
l'Ordre et 'de son entourage dans les premiers temps.

Book Reviews

169

II bc peut que des bouddhologues puissent y trouver des points
lltigeux, comme par exe'mple le date de naissance du Bouddha (voir
p.ex. Die Lebenszeit des Buddha - das alteste i eststehende Datum
&bt Indischen Geschichte? Heinz Bechert, GOttingen 1986, p. 151
[25]), mais la valeur inestimable de ce livre repose dans la
presentation moderne d 'une biographie avec toutes les possibilites
d 'evolution splrituelle d'un homme qui a vecu il y a plus de
2000 ans, ayant pourtant toujours une grande influence et qui
nous revele continuellement des formes nouvelles a decouvrir
concernant la question essentielle de notre existence humaine,

Dankmar Bangert

traduction franqaise par

Monika Schllnkmann

The Last Dalai Lama . A Biography. Michael Harris Goodman. Sidg-
wick & Jackson, London, and Shambhala, Boston, 1986. xiii, 364
pp. £15 and 515.85.

Tibet has long fascinated the West. Surrounded and protected
by the Himalayas, its inaccessibility has only promoted the at-
traction towards its magic and mystery in the minds of the curi-
ous. Before the Tibetans were forced into exile, it was perceiv-
ed by some as the fabled Shangri-la. Since that time Tibetan
culture and religion have found their way into the world, acces-
sible to all. either by direct contact with lamas in India and
the West or through the medium of the many books translated or
written on the subject.. Tibetan Buddhist centres have sprung
up around the world, while the Religion and Occult shelves of
most western European and North American bookshops stock publica-
tions on Tibetan Buddhism.

But what of Tibet and the Tibetans themselves? What of their
history - especially their recent history? Granted that students
of religion may not be students of history or social change,
that those of a religious bent may* not be inclined to the compara-
tively dry study of politics and history, yet the world has shown,
and continues to show, a terrible neglect of the tragic events
which overtook Tibetans in the 'fifties when their entire way
of life, their peaceful, harmonious and fun-loving existence
was cruelly turned upside down and transformed into a nightmare

170

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988

Book Reviews

171

by the invaders iron, the East who absurdly portrayed themselves
as liberators. True, there are books and other documented evi-
dence on these recent events and on Tibetan history In general,
albeit much of it was Implemented by the Tibetans themselves!
True, that the International Commission of Jurists concluded
that acts of genocide had been committed by the Chinese In attemp-
ting to destroy the Tibetans as a religious group. Yet it Is
also painfully true that the world stood by with indifference
- some of it callous - when the Tibetans cried out for internati-
onal help as the PLA overran their country. It is also factually
recorded that the U.N. General Assembly declined to discuss the
question of Tibet at that time on the initiative of the British
government. And it is true that even today any mention of Tibet
conjures up first and foremost a land of aagic and mystery and
not a country whose peace, culture and almost its very existence
have been devastated by a fanatical Ideology. This book, hope-
fully, will go a long way in remedying this deficiency.

Many observers, the present Dalai Lama among them, have sug-
gested that Tibet's own conservatism contributed to their loss
of independence; that their unwillingness in the decades during
and after the Second World War to Involve themselves both politi-
cally and technologically with a rapidly changing world, whose
international relations were becoming increasingly Important
for security in times of crisis, only sealed their political
confinement in a naturally secured geographical isolation. The
Tibetan government's refusal to allow the Americans a supply
route through Tibet to aid the Chinese during the war and monas-
tic opposition to the setting up of British schools in Tibet
are instances of this attitude cited in the book.

Tibet is no stranger to invasion - although not on the scale
of the Communist takeover - an d the present Dalai Lama is not
the first of his line to seek temporary refuge in a neighbouring
country. Tibet's history Is one of fluctuating relationships
with her Central Asian neighbours - predominantly the Mongols
and the Manchus - where the ambiguous roles of patron overlord
and ruler were shuffled delicately around. The author, however,
goes to great lengths to point out that at no time in her his-
tory was Tibet's standing as an independent self-contained nation
in doubt. This claim he backs with historical evidence. What

is certainly true is that from 1911, after the overthrow of the
Manchu regime, the Tibetans enjoyed an era of peace and stability
that lasted until the Chinese Communists decided to 'liberate"
them.

No book on Tibet's history would be complete without an under-
standing of that unique and remarkable system that perpetuates
the lineage of the Dalai Lama. That a religion which believes
that all beings are reborn after death and that those with a
high level of spiritual attainment should be sought out again
to continue their work of benefiting mankind is nothing unexcep-
tional for those of that faith, yet the process of . search and
discovery makes fascinating reading while the astonishment of
those few Westerners fortunate enough to have witnessed such
events'has .been well recorded.

Like its history, Tibet's fourteen Dalai Lamas have had che-
quered careers. Four died before they reached the age of twenty-
one and murder has not been ruled out. One, the sixth, was seem-
ingly wayward, others were more contemplative, spending a great
deal of time In religious pursuits. The fifth and the thirteenth
are memorable for their secular achievements. All were highly
religious men worshipped and revered by Tibetans. Of course,
the Dalai Lamas were not the only incarnate Lamas revered in
Tibet, Each of the four monastic traditions had Its own religi-
ous head and many great lamas were to be found among them.

The title of the. book la The Last Dalai Lama and this has been
criticised elsewhere as a 'cheap, attention grabbing device',
for nowhere in his talks and works has the present Dalai Lama,
or any of the past Dalai Lamas for that matter, categorically
stated that there will be no fifteenth Dalai Lama and the idea
would certainly not originate from any other Tibetan. What he
has said on a number of occasions, however, la that the institu-
tion of the "Dalai Lamas serves a useful function only as long
as it fulfils the needs of Tibet and Tibetans. His Holiness
is no believer in tradition for tradition's sake. While he.
as a Mahayana practitioner, surely will be reborn, he may not
take the title of fifteenth Dalai Lama If the need Is not there.
Moreover, he has even suggested that In this era of democracy
the title of Dalai Lama be awarded to a suitable, religious scho-
lar and rotated every seven years or bo. All this has been docu-

172

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

mented by the author and I feel the criticism of the title Is
a little harsh because what is certain is that even with her
independence regained, the Tibet of old with its feudal structure
will not return. In fact, the present Dalai Lama began dismant-
ling this structure even before he left Tibet. So in that sense
the fourteenth Is certainly the last of the old order.

This book, then, charts In tandem the history of Tibet
from its early origins to those fateful days In 1959 and the
lives of Its Dalai Lamas from the first in the fourteenth century
to the present In exile In his refugee settlement In North India.
The bulk of the book, however, is given over to that turbulent
decade of the 'fifties and to the life of His Holiness the Uth
Dalai Lama. The author's biographical sources are many and vari-
ed. The list is quite impressive, including as it does both
Communist and non-Communist material, Tibetan and non-Tibetan,
old and new. He has been able to weave his Information neatly
into the framework of his story. By far the most delightful
and moving parts of the book are those constructed from inter-
views the author conducted with Tibetans involved in the events
concerned. These Include the Dalai Lama himself, his mother,
his brothers, his tutors, retired government officials, ex-guer-
rilla fighters and other observers. The Dalai Lama's childhood,
his experiences and education In the Potala, and some of his
innermost thoughts and decisions during those first troubled
years of his reign, are almost exclusively gleaned from these
sources. The observations and feelings of those involved in
the fighting in Kham and Lhasa are also particularly memorable.

One issue comes up again and again in the book and stands
out clearly during the process of the Chinese takeover. This
is the debate between passive resistance using the weapons of
negotiation and armed resistance with its guerrilla warfare.
While the former was the policy of the Tibetan government in
those times, the latter was taken up by the more warrior-like
Khampas of Eastern Tibet. The Dalai Lama, a young man In his
twenties, and his government adopted the policy of not aggrava-
ting the Chinese, of acquiescing to their demands and even going
along with their ideological pronouncements in the hope that
truth, comnonsense and negotiation would win the day. It oust
be remembered that at first the Chinese did not march ruthlessly

Book Reviews

173

over Tibet crushing opposition with barbaric force - that came
later. Their campaign was ideological in nature; they gave as-
surances, made promises whilst keeping up a relentless propaganda
tirade. They initiated the notorious seventeen-point agreement
wlylch, although craftily worded, seemed to give Tibet sovereignty
over her own affairs. The 13th Dalai Lama said that the Chinese
way was to do something mild and if that met with no objection,
do something stronger. Therefore there was always ample space
for negotiation even though the Tibetan government never trusted
the Chinese for a moment.

The reasons for this passive approach to a beguiling invader
whose ultimate purpose was never well-camouflaged are twofold:
religious and commonsense. The Dalai Lama was following the
Buddhist principle of non-violence. He firmly believes that
violence should never be used arbitrarily to bring about solutions
to crises and he frequently quoted Mahatma Gandhi as a source
of inspiration in those troubled times. However, he also believes
that in the last resort, and if the cause Is wholesome, it Is
permissible; but, and this is where the second reason prevailed,
commonsense told him that any violent uprising on the part of
the Tibetans would only result in their wholesale massacre, for
the Chinese had far superior weaponry, including heavy artillery,
an unending supply of ammunition and were numerically superior.
The Tibetan arsenal was antiquated, almost primitive and pitiful-
ly Inadequate. It would. His Holiness said, have been suicide.

Reliving the course of these tragic events, one's sympathies
swing between the level-headed commonsense approach of the Tibe-
tan government and the emotional gut reaction of the Khampa war-
riors, who organised a guerrilla movement led by Gompo Tashi
and met with some success, but their resilience and unquestioned
bravery were no match for the military might of the Chinese.
With the hindsight of the success of the Afghan freedom fighters
in a similar situation, one often feels frustration that the
Tibetan government did nothing time and time again in the face
of the cold, creeping Ideological oppression that was eventually
to swallow a whole nation. One wonders if, with such hindsight
and with tfce weight of International outrage, so pitifully lack-
ing, behind them, the Dalai Lama might have reacted differently.
Yet it was not to be. The world forgot about Tibet, giving the

174

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Chinese a free hand to complete 'their insidious task of blotting
out an entire culture, of suppressing its beloved faith and of
subjugating a free people with humiliation. Imprisonment, torture
and execution, all in the name of liberation.

The book closes with a toueUng account of life in exile

for His Holiness in Dharamsala where, in an interview with the
author, he reflects on the events of the past twenty years.

For those who have met him and spent some time with Tihetans

in exile there can be no doubt on whose side the truth lies and

one can only hope that this book will go a long way towards
spreading that truth.

Gavin Kilty

Linguistic Approach t o Buddhist Thought . Genjun H. Sasaki. Moti-
lal Banarsidass, Delhi 1986. x, 194 pp. Rs.125.

This volume contains a number of articles, some previously pub-
lished or read at conferences and other written especially for
it, arranged under two main headings: Early Buddhist concepts
and Abhidharmic concepts. The author's intention is to establish
the relationship between certain Pili words used in Theravadin
texts with their equivalents in Buddhist Sanskrit texts, especial-
ly those of the Sarvastivadins, but not excluding some belonging
to Hahayana achools. He is especially interested in Pali words
whose etymology Is ambiguous.

In the first essay he considers the way in which Pali nekkham-
ma, which can in theory be equivalent to both Sanskrit naiskramya
and naisASmya, is always Sanskritised as naiskramya . In other

essays he deals with Pali attamana, which is taken to be the
equivalent of Sanskrit at W - MM and Sect- or apta-mana , and
Pall dlpa, which can stand for either Sanskrit dlpa 'lamp' or
dvlpa 'island'. The second section includes essays on such im-
portant concepts as the meaning of truth, the three modes of
knowledge and the concept of time in Abhidharma philosophy.
In these papers also especial emphasis is laid upon linguistic
matters, such as the relationship between Pali sammuti and Sans-
krit aahrrtl, and Pali khantl and Sanskrit kanti . when dealing
with such detailed linguistic matters verbal accuracy is essen-
tial, and in this respect it is to be regretted that Sasaki has

Book Reviews

175

not been well served by his printer or proof readers. Printing
errors are rather frequent, and one quotation is repeated on
facing pages (pp.60 and 61) in forms so different, because of
misprints, that it is barely recognisable as the same passage.

Prof. Sasaki is quite correct to emphasise the importance
of following a linguistic approach to Buddhist thought, but one
of the problems about reprinting articles and papers in book
form is that ideas which when first published were new and even
revolutionary later became well-known and taken for granted,
particularly in the West, although they may still be rather less
well-known to some Indian and Japanese scholars. There is no
indication of the date when the constituent parts of this book
were first published, or the journals in which they first appeared.
Nor are we told which chapters were specially written for the
book. It is consequently impossible to assess the degree of
originality which Sasaki's ideas had when first published. A
second problem is that there can be no reference to new theories
which have been published since the original papers appeared,
e.g. In the discussion of the meaning of Pali anamatagga a number
of explanations are given, but the most likely, that by Thomas
Burrow linking it to the root ma- 'to measure', which presumably
appeared after Sasaki's article was published, is not mentioned.

The book ends with two appendices, written in German. Sasaki
himself makes no mention of them in his Preface, but on the book's
dust jacket it is stated that they have been added 'so that the
linguistic information about the terminology night be related
to the evolution of Buddhist thought'. They are entitled '2wel
Lehrwelse des Gotamo Buddho - pariyaya und nipparlyaya' and 'Indi-
sche Grundlage des japonischen Buddhismus'. These are presumably
articles written while Sasaki was a Visiting Professor in Germany,
which have been added at the end of the book because they did
not fit well Into the two sections into which his other papers
have been arranged. It would be interesting to know what Indian
and Japanese readers, for whom this book is presumably intended,
make of them,

K.R. Norman

176

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Self and Moo-Self in Early Buddhism . Joaquin Ferez-Re»6n. Mouton
Publishers, The Hague 1980, xii, 412 pp. DM 110.

This book is based on a Ph.D. thesis originally submitted to
Bombay University. Its stated aim is to elucidate the anattS
doctrine through a detailed study of the original Pali sources
(essentially, the Suttapitaka, plus relevant material from the
Vlnayapitaka, with some reference to the commentaries).

The author, a Spanish scholar on the faculty of the Jesuit
University of Deustc , in Bilbao, brings impressive credentials
to the task: a thoroughgoing knowledge of P5li, familiarity with
the texts, philosophical acumen, sharp critical skills are all
very much in evidence. The resulting book is immensely erudite
and carefully constructed. It is also intensely disappointing.
Disappointing because all this knowledge and labour are mobilized
merely to underpin yet another attempt by a non-Buddhist to tell
Buddhists that they are all wrong, and have been for some 2,500
years, in believing that anatti is what the Buddha in fact taught.

The procedure, though complex and subtle in its application.
is basically simple; the Nika"yas. accepted as being 'the docu-
ments that can bring us closest to the personal source of what
later came to be called Buddhism' (p.2), are suitably analyzed
to 'prove' that the anatta doctrine taught therein 'does not
say simply that the self has no reality at all' (p. 304), but
rather that in it the 'true self, which is 'transcendent reality'
{morally and metaphysically, see p. 276 ff) 'is never brought
into question' (p. 304). A „d from that it Is a short step to
the conclusion: 'Original Buddhism belonged by right of birth
to the non-Brahmanic world, where the plurality of selves was
accepted as a matter of fact. If then the ultimate reality in
each man is said to be transcendent what else can that reality
in every man be but man's true self? This transcendent self
was the one asserted whenever one was made to say of the empirical
factors, "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self",
a formula that equivalently says, "I am beyond all this, my self
transcends all this".' (p. 305),

Fr Perez-Rem6n's argument is, of course, the old 'pro-soul'
one: the atta which the Buddha shows up as illusory is that com-
posed of the five khandhas (the 'empirical factors', in this

Book Reviews

177

author's terminology); this is indeed impermanent and subject
to dvkkha; anatta (suitably substantivized as the non-self ) is its
opposite; therefore anatta is permanent and not subject to dukkha,
i.e. an eternal, transcendent entity; QED.

The difference between Ferez-Rem6n and other propounders
of the soul-theory is that he has worked very hard on the texts.
from all angles (linguistic, logical, historical, philosophical).
Enormous thought and industry have gone into a task of exegesis
for which the author is no doubt well qualified by training.
However, it is all vitiated by the clearly unshakeable conviction,
in his own mind, that there cannot not be such a thing as an
eternal soul in man. In view of his own cultural and religious
background, this is quite understandable. Unfortunately, it
means that all the resources of his formidable scholarship are
applied to prove a foregone conclusion, rather than to investigate
the facts of the case.

The author himself is quite aware of the fact that his book
is bound to invite such criticism, and does his best to forestall
it. His Recapitulation, for instance, opens with the following
paragraph: 'Our research has come to an end. We have examined
the evidence found in the Nikayas for the atta as well as for
the anatta. We have as far as possible let the texts speak for
themselves and we have taken into account, if not 'all' the
available evidence, at least the greatest part of it. We are
not conscious of having eluded any piece of evidence because
it did not fit into our preconceived scheme of ideas. We must
however confess in all sincerity that the result of our research
was from the beginning present in our minds as a 'hypothesis',
as an instrument of work. The idea of this hypothesis had presen-
ted itself to ub in our previous partial readings of the Nikayas.
But to have a hypothesis as the backbone of one's own research
Is not only legitimate but advisable. We think that the accusa-
tion levelled by T.R.V. Murti against Mrs. Rhys Davids and others
that 'It will not do to pick up only those passages that are
favourable to our theory and ignore the rest, or call them inter-
polations or later accretions," does not apply to us. If we
have done anything of that sort we have done it after giving
reasons which to us seemed convincing' (p. 301).

178

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Book Reviews

179

I have quoted the paragraph at length because it illustrates'
very clearly the author's characteristic style of argumentation
It i. worth examining a little more closely. The crux of the
passage is the (hopefully disarming?) admission that the result
of the research was present in the author's mind from the very
beginning. However, a subtle distinction is made between this
which is called working with a 'hypothesis', and quite respectable
and the holding of a 'preconceived scheme of ideas', which is
not. This is rather like the current debate about the use of
terrorist methods - one man's 'terrorist' is another's 'freedom
fighter'. It all depends which side you're on.

One can readily agree that a hypothesis is 'not only legiti-
mate but advisable' in fields such as the natural and exact scien-
ces, where objectively agreed, precise standards of verification
exist (such as repeatable experiments, and strictly mathematical
demonstrations). In the humanities, on the other hand, where
no such verification is possible, and especially when dealing
with matters of textual and ideological interpretation, the re-
searcher's essential requirement is surely an open mind - the
willingness to let the texts speak for themselves without a 'hypo-
thesis' which will, to a greater or lesser extent> inevltabiy

colour their meaning with the 'preconceived ideas' of which the
hypothesis is composed.

My contention is that this is precisely what Dr Perez-Remcn
has done. He has gone to the texts with a preconceived notion
(hypothesis) that 'Nikayan Buddhism professes as its central
tenet the oncological separation of the self from the non-self
( - this categorical formulation is from p. 243, but the view
is evident from the very first pages of the book) and has of
course found confirmation for it. Even though he cannot adduce
one single instance where this is stated in so many words and
is thus reduced to the conclusion that 'in the Nikayas, the true
self is ever silentl y [my emphasis] present and its reality is
never brought into question' (p. 299). (Not a very good argument,
this. If I never explicitly deny that the moon is made of green
cheese, can this really be taken to mean that I think it is?)

The author is quite aware of che inherent weaknes8 of hls
Portion, and does his best to anticipate likely criticism with

the carefully qualified statement: "We have as far as possible
[my emphasis] let the texts speak for themselves'. This sounds
quite innocuous, even obvious, but is really quite a considerable
disclaimer. If you say you have done your best 'as far as pos-
sible 1 , it is churlish for anyone else to come along and complain
that you have not done more, or better. So the would-be critic
is placed in a quandary. If I don't complain, I am implicitly
accepting the author's argument. If I do, I'm being churlish.
Fr Perez-Renon Is very good at setting up this kind of double
blind.

Then he goes on: 'We are not conscious of having eluded any
piece of evidence because it did not fit into our preconceived
scheme of Ideas'. One gladly grants that he has amassed a lot
of material and gone through it in detail. The problem is not
prior rejection because it did not fit, but the way in which
it has been made to fit by the application of extremely well
developed (but not necessarily convincing) linguistic, philosophi-
cal and debating skills. And here is another typical quandary
lying in wait for the unfortunate critic: to say that 'one is
not conscious' of having done wrong creates a similar situation
to that implied in 'as far as possible'. If the critic accepts
the qualification, he is accepting the main clause, i.e. that
no evidence has been excluded because it did not fit in with
the preconception. If he rejects the qualification, he is being
unreasonable since one, quite clearly, cannot expect anyone's
awareness to be greater than it actually Is,

Finally, the categorical disclaimer: 'The accusation that
"it will not do (to use evidence selectively]"... does not apply
to us'. Immediately followed by the careful qualification that,
if the author has in fact done anything of the sort, 'we have
done it after giving reasons which seemed to us convincing*.
Again, one can hardly blame someone for doing something for rea-
sons he finds convincing. But, of course, if one is not convinced
by those reasons, one is not likely to find the subsequent argu-
ment very convincing either.

So, in the end, what does this justification really amount
to7 Something, I submit, like: "I started with a preconceived
idea (hypothesis). I examined a comprehensive corpus of material

lao

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

in the light of that idea, and found it confirmed \ However,
this is simply a sort of self-fulfilling exercise. The author
has found what he was looking for. which is fine for him but
does not help the rest of us much, Perez-Remon is uneasily aware
of this.. So. all along, he finds himself resorting, to improve
his position, to techniques of persuasive argumentation - familiar
to veteran debaters - which are more suitable for scoring than
for proving points. Two in particular:

CD One consists In the use of hypothetical arguments (hypotheses
again!) from which suitable conclusions can then be drawn. There
is a good example of this as soon as one opens the book (under-
lining added by me): 'If the belief in absolute an att3 had been
established right from-""the beginning as one of the pillars of
Buddhist dogma, and that in contradistinction to all existing
s * sCelIls - then tradition would ha ve felt an instinctive ibhorr«n f .
for the use -of the term att i , which would have had a jarring
effect on the ea rs a nd minds of the composers, the compilers
and the reciters. If s uch had been the case, we may well arp ,-
t hat the use of the term attS would have been confined to a bare
minimum and never extended beyo n d a scanty and conventional.
and therefore not very meaningful, use of it 1 (p. 3).

Frankly, to postulate 'instinctive abhorrence' for a certain
term on the part of people who lived two and a half millennia
ago, and to speculate on its 'jarring effect' on their ears and
minds might be claimed as a striking case of empathy across the
ages. However, being totally unverif iable . it can certainly
not be regarded as a sound basis for drawing any conclusions.
Ifet the conclusion that the author does draw from it, namely
'that the use of the term acta would have been confined to a
bare minimum and never extended beyond a scanty and conventional,
and therefore not very meaningful, use of it' is basic to the
whole later argument that, since the term .tea does in fact appear
quite frequently in important contexts, it 'stands for something
of the greatest importance, this being incompatible with a more
conventional use of the term' (p. 20).

(2) The second, and rather more insidious technique is the use
of what I may call, with all due respect, question-begging lan-
guage, i.e. phraseology which, by its very form, prejudges the

Book Reviews

181

Issue, implicitly assuming as given what is, purportedly, to
be found out. We do not need to go beyond the same page 3 to
find a classic instance of this. After quoting Piyadassi Thera's
orthodox definition of anatta as 'the mere denial of an atta,
the non-existence of itta", Perez-Remon comments: 'This is an
issue that has to be decided not a priori, but after a careful
study of the texts and after determining the way atti and anatta
are used in them'. So far, so good. But then he slips in his
own a priori assertion (using a simile - the horns of a rabbit
- drawn, I believe , from the tradition of scholastic logic):
'Anatta is the denial of something unreal, as when one denies
the existence of 'the horns of a rabbit'. It is the denial of
something positive*. But surely this is what we were setting
out to investigate? And he goes on: 'we shall discover in the
texts an irreconcilable opposition and polarity between acta,
the true self [!], and anatta, which as a noun stands for some-
thing positive and opposed to atta, "the non-self'.'

That a noun, by definition, 'stands for something positive'
is itself a far from evident proposition, but I shall not go
into this now. what must be noted is that the key concept of
the book, the 'true self', having now been Introduced at the
earliest opportunity, is off and running. It will henceforth
reappear time and again throughout the book as the basic assump-
tion in the interpretation of the language and meaning of the
texts. And its ubiquitousness will also, through the sheer mecha-
nism of repetition, tend to fix it increasingly in the reader's

mind .

Of course, an eloquent plea is no guarantee of the truth
or justice of the case. It simply demonstrates the skill of
the advocate. For Perez-R.em6n' s skill one can have nothing but
admiration. For his industry in Baking a complete survey of
every reference to atta and related terms in the Nlkayas one
must be truly grateful. It is an impressive effort and consti-
tutes a positive contribution to the study of the canonical texts
by bringing together so much Important material. But his conclu-
sions, as I said before, are vitiated from the start. In fact,
Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism may well be regarded as a
monumental display of the power and persuasiveness of ditthi

182

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

(a subtly argued form of sassata ditchi , the eternallst viev,
in this case), demonstrating how effectively a previously formed,
deeply held view can colour the interpretation of texts,

Amadea Sole-Leris

ES.: The latest full-length work on anatta" is by K.P. Sinha, ffairatmua-Vada ,
The Buddhist Theory of Not-Self (Calcutta 1985), whilst a short doctrinal
overview is provided by Y. Krishnan, 'Buddhism and Belief in Jtma' (Journal
of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 7, 2, Madison 1984. p. 117).

Death and Dying; the Tibetan Tradition, Glenn H. Mullin. Arkana
(Routledge), London 1986. xvl, 251 pp. £5.95.

Death, Intermediat e State and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism . Lati
Rinpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins. Rider (Century Hutchinson), London
1980; repr. Snow Lion, Ithaca (New York) 1985. 86 pp. $6.95.

The Buddha is recorded in the Hahaparinirvanasutra as having
said: 'Of all footprints, the footprint of the elephant is supreme.
Of all meditations, meditation on death Is supreme'. These two
excellent books, therefore, offer us very valuable food for
thought. The general Buddhist view of death is clearly and
simply put forward by Mullin in the opening chapters of his book
in which he contemplates this and contrasts it with the attitude
prevalent in the West. As he says: 'Death and dying is only
a morose subject at face value; it also has its wonderful and
amazing side'. Western society, however, chooses to shy away
from death and to protect its children from witnessing it. We
try to pretend through euphemisms and discreet ceremonial that
it does not really happen and we create in our minds the illusion
of personal immortality. The Buddhist view, however, is just
the opposite. Indeed, Buddhist teachings make it quite clear
that If one is to lead a happy, healthy and wholesome life it
is vital to maintain an awareness of the fragility of one's life-
span in all that one does. As Geshe Dargye says here in Chapter
2: 'If on waking up in the morning one does not meditate on death,
the entire morning is wasted. Similarly, if we don't meditate
on death in the evening, the night will be lost to meaningless
pursuits . '

In his Introduction, Mullin identifies seven main categories

Book Reviews

183

of Tibetan literary material concerned with death and dying and
these he lists as: 1) Instructive manuals for the purpose of
guiding trainees in death meditation during this lifetime. Such
teachings include the contemplations of the corpse that are so
familiar in all Buddhist traditions as a way of overcoming attach-
ment to one's own or another's body, as well as texts that help
to familiarise the practitioner with death through a scientific
analysis of its process. The second book listed above ( the
short text by Lati Rinpoche) is of this type. It gives a detailed
outline of the death process in terms of the dissolution of the
material elements and the five skandhas of which the living body
is composed. Naturally, this process is also touched upon by
Mullin but in no great detail, as he himself refers his readers
to this second book. Lati Rinpoche also deals with the way in
which the consciousness of the deceased enters the womb in order
to be reborn into its next life, which is an area not touched
upon by Mullin at all. Lati treats his subject without any of
the trace of humour demonstrated by Mullin and deals with it
only from the philosophical standpoint of the Vajrayana. Mullin,
of course, includes all points of view in his work. 2) Poetry and
prose that inspire religious practice by making one see clearly
the transient nature of mortal existence. (A wonderful little
book on this subject was recently published by Tuttle, Tokyo
1986: Japanese Death Poems by Yoel Hoffmann.) 3) Inspirational
accounts of the deaths of great masters. It is said that the
Buddha himself died solely in order to demonstrate to his follow-
ers the reality of death and the correct way of facing it. 4)
Divination manuals for predicting the time of one's own death,
be it far or near. 5) Texts dealing with yogic techniques for
the attainment of a long life. 6) Methods for training the
mind in the transference of consciousness to a suitable Buddha-
field at the time of one's death. 7) Ritual funerary texts
like the famous Bar do thos sGrol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead)
that are designed to be recited in aid of the deceased.

Mullin has chosen nine passages from indigenous Tibetan li-
terature as illustrative of these various genres and these are
presented here in translation. Each of the latter is prefaced
by a most interesting anecdote explaining why the chosen passages
eaae to be written and how it finally came to be included in

184

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

the present work. The tone of the book is warm, friendly and
humorous throughout . The passages themselves are well chosen
and translated into the very readable English that has ensured
the author's popularity as a writer and translator over several
years. The book's 'popular' theme is enhanced by its garish
paperback cover featuring a Robert Beer painting of a skeleton
happily meditating whilst being cremated. 1, for one, find the
painting delightful but I wonder how many will agree with me?
The Sanskrit words and phrases that appear here and there through-
out the book are, however, appallingly inaccurate and their spel-
lings should on no account be trusted.

This is a book that offers itself with no pretence to lofty
academic scholarship but is aimed instead squarely at Buddhist
practitioners and anyone else who may be interested in Buddhist
thoughts on death. It presents an excellent anthology of teach-
ings on death and dying that are sure to elicit appropriate bene-
ficial responses in the minds of all who read it thoughtfully.
This is a very useful book for anyone who is not immortal or
who has friends and family who are not immortal. I would recom-
mend it highly as a welcome addition to anyone's bookshelf.

Martin Board

The Opening of the Lotus - Developing Clarity and Kindness,
Lama Sherab Gyaltsen Amipa . Wisdom Publications, London 1987.
175 pp, £6.95.

This book covers the main points of practice and understanding
on the path to Enlightenment, thereby touching on themes common
to all Tibetan Buddhist traditions: bodhicitta, wisdom, karma,
refuge, etc. There is a section on preliminary rituals which
includes the taking of refuge, prostration and Guru yoga and
a detailed description and explanation of the mandala offering.

The author, a Sakya lama, includes the fundamental Sakya
text, 'Parting from the Four Attachments', as well as a brief
account of the Sakya tradition and, finally, an enchanting account
of his life up to the present time told in that wonderfully fac-
tual style that Tibetans have of Just listing event after event
without any regard to literary pretension, yet without arrogance
or false humility.

Book Reviews

185

The book lacks an editor and this is at times evident. Cer-
ta H choices of word or phrase could easily be misconstrued by
the newcomer to Buddhism. Also, the continuity from one section
to the next is at times difficult to understand. Despite the
absence of an editor or maybe because of it, the text maintains
a quaint and humble style that at once earns the reader's respect.
Kuch advice on practice, for example, begins with the words.
•Let us * Because of its s^eningly arbitrary format it can
be regarded as a collection of advice and practice that can be
opened at any page for meaningful instruction.

Gavin Kilty

P raver Flags - The Life and Spiritual Tearhinps of Jlgten Sumgon.
Khenpo Kdnchog Gyaltsen. Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca (New
York) 198A, repr . 1986. 95 pp. 56.95.

Jigten Sumgon was the founder of the Drikung Kagyu , a subschocl
of the Kagyu tradition, one of the four great lineages of Tibetan
Buddhism, and which originated in Tibet with Marpa the translator,
whose teachers included the great Indian pandit Naropa . Marpa s
most illustrious disciple was JetsCin Milarepa, a legend in Tibet.
He in turn taught Gampopa who had also imbibed the Kadam tradition
from the Indian pandit Atlsa. From Gampopa came the four elder
lineages of the Kagyu and from one of these - the Phagdru Kagyu,
founded by Phagmo Drupa - came the eight younger lineages. Of
these eight one was the Drikung Kagyu and the subject of this
book.

The initiator and translator of this book is the Abbot Kon-
chog Gyaltsen, a scholar and meditator in the Drikung tradition.
As well as translating the life of Jigten Sumgon. he has included
the biographies of Gampopa and Phagmo Drupa - Jigten Sumgon s
main teacher. The second half of the book contains a selection
of Jigten Sumgon' s Vajra songs and a brief exposition of the
Fivefold Profound Path of Hahamudra , the main philosophy and
practice of the Kagyu tradition.

Like most Tibetan biographies, this one is replete with mira-
cles and mysterious happenings which accompany the events surroun-
ding the subject's life. During one discourse Jigten SumgOn
actually stopped the sun from sinking so that he could finish

186

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

his teachings. His visions and his ability to communicate with
other realms are astonishing. His songs are terse, profound
and reverberate with typical Mahamudra themes such as non-duality
and non-effort, subjects very open to misinterpretation by the
ininitlated. Likewise, the section on Mahamudra philosophy and
practice is brief and to the point, going straight to the nature
of reality and of the mind. All this is in keeping with the
Kagyu emphasis on practice and intense meditation. A three-
year uninterrupted meditational retreat is standard practice
for a Kagyupa (a devotion which the translator has successfully
performed ) .

The translator states that he has brought this book out for
the many Westerners interested in Buddhism, 'to kindle the flame
of their understanding'. Westerners are. of many types. Followers
of the Kagyu tradition will obviously revere this book and others
whose dispositions incline them towards the kind of approach
Mahamudra offers will likewise be inspired. Yet 1 wonder what
others will make of the many miracles and magical events portrayed
in the biographical section. We live in a scientific age where
rationality is the cornerstone of much of our thinking. The
editor, in his Foreword, ia aware of this when he suggests that
these seemingly fantastic occurrences can be taken symbolically
or literally. Symbolically, in the same way that fairy tales
make use of magical occurrences to express certain moral points.
I think he means metaphorically rather than symbolically, for
the jewel that turns into a frog (an instance in the book) would
mean that the jewel was ultimately worthless because it was stolen,
whereas honesty is far more precious than any jewel. Likewise,
footprints left in rocks would be metaphors for lasting influences
left behind by these great lamas. And so on. Literally, because
such fantastic events continue to be reported these days by unbia-
sed Western observers and also because a deep study of Buddhism
will reveal that objective reality Is not something unconnected
with the nature of the mind, a topic that modern science is gradu-
ally getting around to.

The book, consisting entirely of translations of original
Tibetan texts, was obviously not written for scientifically-
minded Westerners but presumably the translator chose these texts
in order to give his readers a taste of the practice and practlti-

Book Reviews

187

oners of the Drikung Kagyu lineage. They are certainly fascina-
ting enough to inspire the interested reader to search out more
information on this noble tradition.

Gavin Kilty

Journal of the Pali Text Society . Volumes X and XI. PTS, London
1985, 1987. vil, 226; v, 159 pp. £12.25 each.

As part of the Pali Text Society's centenary celebrations, the
twenty-three volumes of the Journal, which had been out of print
for many years, were reprinted in eight volumes, and Volume IX
of the Journal was published in 1981 with contributions invited
from leading scholars in the fields of Pali and Theravada Buddhisa.
Sufficient interest was aroused by this for the Council of the
Society to decide to continue publication of the Journal on an
ad hoc basis, as and when sufficient material of a publishable
standard was received. Since that time Volume X (1985) and XI
(1987) have appeared.

The Council decided that the Journal should publish short
Pall texts, translations and commentaries on texts, catalogues
and handlists of Pali books and manuscripts, and similar material,
and the contents of these two volumes very much follow these
guidelines. They Include an edition of the Paramatthavinicehaya
(X, 1-22), made by A. P. Buddhadatta shortly before his death,
and held since 1962 awaiting a convenient place to publish it,
and one of the Saddabindu (XI, 79-109), a short grammatical text,
by P. Lottermoser. There are translations of the Namarupasamaso
(XI, 5-31) by H. Saddhatissa, and of the PancagatidlpanI (XI,
131-59) by Mrs A. A. Hazlewood. 0. von HlnUber has contributed
two articles about exciting finds of early manuscripts In Thai-
land, one on two Jataka manuscripts (X, 1-22) and the other on
the oldest dated manuscript of the Milindapafiha yet found (XI,
111-19).

Textual and etymological studies in these two volumes include
a discussion of the words kalyanami tea and kalijanamitnata (XI,
51-72) by S. Collins, two sets of lexicographical studies (X,
23-36; XI, 33-49) by the present reviewer, and an Investigation
of the mysterious compound vegha-missaka (perhaps an error for
vedfta-jnxssaxa), used by the Buddha to describe his body, by R. t

188

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

Gombrich (XI, 1-4), The last-named also contributes an investiga-
tion of the use of a pericope, a passage which has become standar-
dised and used as a unit to build up (inappropriately) other
texts (XI, 73-8). Phra Khantipalo contributes a detailed subject
index to the Aftguttaranikaya (X, 37-154), and W, Pruitt writes
about references to Pali in seventeenth century French books
(XI, 121-31) and finds a reference earlier than that made by
Simon de La Loubfere in 1691.

Both volumes include a notice inviting scholars to submit
papers falling within the fields specified. Contributors are
asked, wherever possible, to present their papers in a camera-
ready copy form. The two volumes under review show variations
in type face which indicates that contributors are already doing
this. The overall appearance of the volumes is perhaps not enhan-
ced thereby, but if the result is a reduction in the cost of
production and, consequently, in selling price, then it is surely
acceptable.

K.J!. Horman

Indian Studies (Selected Papers) . Gustav Roth. Seventieth Birth-
day felicitation volume ed . Heinz Bechert and Petra Kieffer-
Pulz, BIbliotheca Indo-Buddhica No. 32, Sri Satguru Publications,
Delhi 1986. xxxv, 468 pp; xxix plates. Ra.450.

The publication of collections of papers is an undertaking most
welcomed by experts in the field, but usually shied away from
by publishers who tend to regard them as commercially unrewarding
and therefore usually require a substantial subsidy for bringing
them out. It is therefore remarkable that the publishers of
the Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica have for some time been successfully
bringing out such collections on a commercial basis, often in
the form of Festschrifts to individuals like the present one.

The recipient of this particular tribute has a special claim
to recognition by wider circles in India on account of his far-
ranging activities during some ten years of residence there.
Born in Germany in 1916 and educated at the Universities of Leip-
zig and Halle, Roth was lucky enough to spend the war years as
a translator and interpreter of Oriental languages, for a time
with a unit of the so-called Indian National Army of Subhas Chan-

Book Reviews

189

dra Bose stationed In occupied France. He obtained his Ph.D.
in Hunich in 1952 for a thesis in Jaina studies and in the same
year arrived in India as a beneficiary of a Government of India
scholarship. When It expired he survived by teaching German
in the Science College of Patna University, later to become a
lecturer in German at St Xavier's College in Calcutta. During
his years in India he studied archaeology and ancient Indian
history, continued his Jaina studies, read rare Buddhist Sanskrit
manuscripts, especially while staying In Kathmandu where he
also studied Buddhist and Hindu iconography, perfected his know-
ledge of Tibetan and was also engaged in various cultural activi-
ties .

Back In Germany, from 1959 he held various research lecture-
ship appointments, most of them in Gottingen, until his retirement
In 1981; from 1982 till 1985 he was Director of the Nava Nalanda
Hahavihara Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research at
Patna. Again retired, but by no means idle, he now lives in
tenglern in West Germany,

The bibliography of Roth's works has forty-seven items (be-
sides nine reviews), two of them monographs: the first one is,
in fact, his doctoral thesis published in Wiesbaden thirty-one
years after its submission, and the second is the highly acclaimed
first ever edition of the BhiksunI Vinaya of the Mahasamghikas
(Patna 1970). The present collection Itself contains twenty-
seven articles and eight reviews of different length and value,
but all of them of great interest to the specialist, some in
English and some in German. Ten articles deal with Buddhist
materials. There is a study of the terminology in the Vinaya
of the Lokottaravadins , another of a term denoting a saint and
later the saviour in Jaina and Buddhist sources, and a further
philological investigation of an enclitic particle in the Lokot-
taravadln Vinaya and In the inscriptions of Asoka, which is not
without bearing on our understanding of Asoka ' s attitude to
religions other than Buddhism - a theme to which he later returned
in another study. His knowledge of the Lokottaravada texts is
reflected in two further philological contributions.

From his iconographical studies we have two papers on the
stOpa. One is called "Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa according

190

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

to the Tibetan version of the CitT.-vlbMg.-vinodbhiv.-.ucr.,
the Sanskrit treatise StUpalaksana-klrikl-vivecsna, and a corres-
ponding passage in Kuladatta's Kriyasangraha ' , which starts with
the_accou.it given in the Mahaparlnibbana Sutta by the Buddha
to Ananda about how to dispose of his corpse. It i 8 one of the
textuslly best documentated studies or, tb e symbolism of the stupa
accompanied by three graphic iHustrations and several plates
The second study, on the stupa as described by Ksemankara, shows
that the text reflects a certain intermediary stage in the develop-
ment of the Buddhist stupa. For a historian of religions the
most interesting, paper i 8 'The Birth of a Saviour related in
Buddhist. Christian. Islamic and Jaina Traditions'. It is an
investigation of stories surrounding the birth of the Buddha.
as related mainly in the Nidanakatha . partly corroborated by
Asoka's inscription on his pillar at Lumbinl. and of Christ as
known not only from Biblical sources, but also from the Qur'« B
and the wider Islamic tradition which differs from the Biblical
one in certain features which eventually crept into depictions
of the Nativity of Christ by some late mediaeval European artists.
Finding clear similarities between the Nidanakatha account of
the birth of the Buddha and the Isla.ic version of Christ's nati-
vity, he concludes that the Buddhist version apparently influenced
the Islamic one and from there entered Europe. Another feature of
Christ's nativity has a parallel in Jaina accounts of the birth
of Makkhali GosSla, the religious leader of the Ajlvikas (and
it is later referred to also in a commentary by Buddhaghosa) .
Arguing for the great antiquity of this feature, Roth concludes
that there was a pattern of the birth of saviours developed in
India which spread, with a number of variations, as far as Pales-
tine .

It is perhaps not quite proper to review reviews, but It
may be worth mentioning that I find the reviews of two works
Of David Seyfort Ruegg (ia theorie du Tathigatagarbha et <fu Gotra
and te traits du Tathagataaarbha tfe 8u ston * in cJlan grub) partt _
cularly helpful.

It is obvious that the author did not have an entirely smooth
and comfortable academic career and that his work must have suf-
fered from the necessity of having to earn his living in India
by teaching German, but he has had an interesting life and ha*

Book Reviews

191

produced some research results of lasting value. This book is
a well deserved tribute to him as well as a service to Indian

studies .

KareJ Werner

Was 1st der Meg - er llegt vor deinen Augen . Zen-Meditation im
japanischen Garten ('What is the Way? It is right in front of
you. Zen Meditation in Japanese Gardens'). Rudolf Seitz, with
contributions by Kim Lan Thai and Kasao Yamamoto. Kosel-Verlag,
Munich 1985. 176 pp., including 72 monochrome plates. N.P.
Joei Matsukura, Abbot of the world-famous Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto,
once answered the question as to 'What is Zen? ' In the following
words: 'Zen is a religion without a personal God... without an
idol to worship; Zen is a religion of self-cultivation... by
means of which man deepens his self -awareness .. . through which
man intuits his own nature, that is to say, a religion of Satori-
enlightenment. Zen is a religion of "Nothingness", "Selflessness"
..., a living religion of work and action... by which man realises
that "the place where he stands Is at once the Pure Land"... .
Everybody who has undergone some Zen training knows of the weight
given to physical work to be performed in the true spirit of
Zen (sanu). Such work, being part and parcel of Zen training,
is mainly directed towards the aaintenanee of monastic buildings
or temples and the gardens surrounding them. The art of laying
out, shaping and finally maintaining gardens and, of course,
the gardens themselves cultivated in Japan for many centuries,
their symbolism and aestheticism are so closely and predominantly
related to Buddhism - especially Zen Buddhism - that it appears
justified to speak of a Zen art as one of the multi-faceted as-
pects of Zen Buddhist culture.

The literature in Western languages specifically dealing
with Japanese gardens does not seem abundant but includes very
fine contributions among which, first of all, must be mentioned
Teiji Itoh's Space and Illusion in tne Japanese Garden (New York
and Tokyo-Kyoto 1973), which is a translation and adaptation
of the Japanese original entitled Shakkel to Tsuboniwa (Kyoto
19 °5). Another more recent work on the same subject is Mark
Holbotn's The Ocean In Che Sand,- 'Japans from ~Laiidsqaj>£_ to Gar

192

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

(Boulder 1978). He are fortunate to have the present publication
in German treating of 'Japanese gardens as works of art', of
'form modelled by means of nature". Was 1st d«r weg is the re-
sult of a happy collaboration between three artists-cum-scholars:
Rudolf Seitz, President of the Academy of Pine Arts in Munich;
Kim Lan Thai, Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy,
University of Munich; and Masao Yamamoto, Professor and President
of the Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo, who specializes in Eastern
and Western aesthetics. Kim Lan Thai, like M. Yamamoto, is ad-
mirably qualified to mediate and promote mutual understanding
and appreciation in respect of Oriental and Occidental ways of
feeling and thinking, for she is equally at home in both Buddhist
and Western philosophy.

What immediately captivates one in the book under review
are the magnificent photos taken by R. Seitz, through which he
tries to make visible the fascination which those 'places of
meditation' evoke. The photos are arranged under eight headings:
paths, stones, sand, trees and blossoos , stone-lanterns and gates,
walls and pavilions, bridges, water and reflection. Accompanying
each plate is a quotation, chiefly from Zen literature, selected
by K.L. Thai. These quotations, she states, are not meant to
be captions, for such would fix contemplation in finitude. Words
and pictures are merely 'skill in means' pointing to the Ineffable
and inspiring one actually to tread the path leading to insight-
knowledge and realization of Absolute Truth.

The textual part proper of the present work constitutes the
Introductory portion, namely R. Seitz' Foreword on the fascination
of Japanese gardens. Seitz concludes by citing Yamamoto: 'He
who contemplates the gardens, is in the Buddha's best of hands.'

M. Yamamoto *s essay entitled 'As a European in Japanese Car-
dens' makes very interesting reading as in it he discusses the
origins and development of Japanese horticulture. Before doing
so. he refers to the difficulties Westerners are likely to have
in appreciating the beauty of traditional Japanese gardens.
Thanks to Seitz' photographs, he says, in this book at least
such difficulties are overcome; for these photos documenting
the 'meeting of a European artist and art professor with tradi-
tional Japanese gardens' bespeak the artist's 'keen aesthetic

Book Reviews

193

eye and depth of human feeling' as well as his 'living Kunst-
anschauung based on the great tradition of clsslcal German aesthe-
tics." Yamamoto also gives reasons for the above-mentioned dif-
ficulties.- An archaeological discovery unearthed in Japan and
known as the Shumisen Stone indicates one of the origins of Japa-
nese horticulture. Shumisen derives from Sanskrit Sumeru , the
fabulous mountain in the centre of the world taken by Buddhists
for a cosmocentrlc symbol; in this context man is not thought
the 'pearl of creation* to such an extent that he considers nature
as an essentially hostile world outside himself and to be subju-
gated as much as possible. The Omphalos Stone in the Museum
of Delphi very much resembles the Shumisen Stone; culturally
speaking, however, the former is an anthropocentric symbol reflec-
ting the ancient Greeks' belief in their being the centre - 'at
the navel' - of the world. 'The Greeks created the ideal image
of the human body as the most outstanding creation of nature.'
The Japanese, on the other hand, inspired by Chinese and Korean
culture, 'sought to realize the ideal image as the most outstand-
ing creation of nature in their horticulture.'

K.L. Thai's further contribution to Was ist der Weg bears
the title 'The Clap of One Hand' borrowed from Hakuin Zenji's
k5an. It is particularly she who associates R. Seitz' photos
with Zen Buddhism by referring to and quoting frora Zen classics
of Indian. Chinese and Japanese origin. She also explains why
monochrome plates have been chosen for this book. Black and
white photos are apt to come very close to the Far Eastern art
of 'non-colour in which colourlessness is not held to be a nega-
tion of colours but the perfection of the chromatic spectrum.'
Monochromy is intended to 'reduce the Inexhaustible manif oldness
of natural colours to their simplest expression.' Monochromy
goes hand in hand with the principles underlying Chinese brush
and ink works, in which rather the absence of brush and ink is
the subtle criterion of the 'divine quality of painting.' This
art of non-expression, along with that of monochromy, reminds
one of the koan , The sound of one hand clapping: 'The sound pro-
duced by clapping with one hand is a paradox removing things
and simultaneously reviving them in their originality.' Although
K.L. Thai has intentionally refrained from referring directly
to what the photos show, many striking examples of the art of

194

Buddhist Studies Review 5, 2 (1988)

non-expression could be given as found in the photographs of
sand or white gravel gardens among which the Ryoanji Rock-and-
Sand Garden is the best known.

The number of printing errors is negligible. Misprints actu-
ally needing correction occur in the Sanskrit quotation from
the Vajracchedika Sutra (p. 9, 25-26); for aprasthitam. . . utpadayl-
tavyam... prasthi tarn read apratlsthl tara. . . utpadayitavyam. . , prati-
athitaa.

Many thanks are due to the three authors of the present book
who have offered an enlightening contribution to the subject
in hand. The reviewer may finally be permitted to express a
wish and a hope. Due to the fact that K.L. Thai, dealing with
Zen Buddhists, hails from Vietnam and that Vietnam has its own
Zen culture and history which even antedates that of Japan by
roughly speaking 600 years - a surprising revelation for Western
students of Buddhism - one feels prompted to request and wish
in earnest that she and other qualified Vietnamese scholars,
authors and poets try their best and eventually succeed in making
accessible to the scholarly world and the interested general
public the grandeur of the indigenous Zen tradition of Vietnam;
for what is known of it outside Vietnam is next to nothing .

ahikkhu Pasadika

Into every life a little Zen must fall . A Christian philosopher
looks to Alan Watts and the East. Alan Kelghtley. Wisdom Publi-
cations, London 1986. 194 pp. £6.95.

There is in Christianity, from the Catechetical School of Alexan-
dria of the late second century until the present day, an honour-
able tradition of attempting to describe and present Christianity
in thought-forms and cultures other than its original Judaeo-
Aramaic one. In the present book Mr Keightley attempts. In his
own words, 'to put some aspects of the straight kind of western
philosophical thinking on speaking terras with the experiences
which emerged through the development of eastern consciousness
movements of the past few decades' (p. 17), and I am afraid to
say he goes on in the same style for 171 pages.

A small book with such a vast subject will Inevitably mean
generalizing and making short cute, but I am at a loss to find

Book Reviews

195

the justification for so many distortions. I cannot judge the
accuracy of the Eastern presentation but Western traditional
Christianity comes in for some severe mishandling. The whole
book Is permeated with the idea that an enlightened Eastern notion
of "consciousness' has much to offer poor old tottering Christia-
nity; the idea is taken (hook, line and sinker, I would imagine)
from the writings of Alan Watts, whom the author frequently
quotes .

His mistake is to muddle traditional Christian thought with
popular versions of it. For Instance, traditional Christianity
does not maintain 'an absolute duality' (p. 134), however much
this may feature in the sermons of hell-fire preachers. It
is not a 'modern brand of gnostics' who believe that the action
of the Incarnation raises humanity 'rather than Jesus who is
being reduced' (p. 126). It was the teachings of perfectly ortho-
dox Fathers of the Church.

In his last chapter the author attempts to postulate a Chris-
tianity purged of useless and out-of-date concepts. In its place
he would put 'Christ as pointing to a transformed state of con-
sciousness rather than a particular historical person' (p. 126).
In fact the whole book is about 'a state of consciousness' with
no real philosophical discussion of what this means to the East
or the West. If his ideas of Buddhism are as muddled as are
his ideas about traditional Western Christianity there is, I
an afraid, very little here to be taken seriously.

Ft Michael Cay

THE BUDDHIST

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FUNDAMENTALS OF

MAINSTREAM
BUDDHISM

J HI HI DIUEtM MK II I V

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These four booklets expound some of the major topics of the first phase
of Indian Buddhism, sometimes referred to as the Hiriayana, i.e. the
Small Vehicle. The booklets are aimed at the non-specialist general
reader who has some acquaintance with Buddhist ideas and who wants to
know more without becoming involved in academic detail or translated texts.

The material is drawn from both the major sources, i.e.l texts and
commentaries translated from the Pali and Sanskrit languages. The purpose
being to present the basic non-controversial doctrines as recorded and
accepted by Indian Buddhists of the first centuries after Sakyamuni Buddha's
death. This broad consensus of the early period is described as 'mainstream
Buddhism.'

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We welcome contributions to this journal, particularly In the
field of early mainstream Buddhism and especially Buddhism in
Central Asia except that, since they are adequately covered in
other journals, Tibetan studies per se should be avoided,

1. Since this Journal is produced by of f set-litho , which neces-
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2. Only titles of published books and technical terms need
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3. Copyright will automatically be vested in this journal, unless
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